English▸ noun a small elongated insect with a pair of terminal appendages that resemble pincers. The females typically care for their eggs and young until they are grown.
▸ verb
(earwigs, earwigging, earwigged)
[no object] British informal secretly listen to a conversation: he looked behind him to see if anyone was earwigging.
▪ [with object] archaic influence (someone) by secret means:
he was so sure to be earwigged in private that what he heard or said openly went for little.
– ORIGIN Old English ēarwicga, from ēare ‘ear’ + wicga ‘earwig’ (probably related to wiggle); the insect was once thought to crawl into the human ear.