Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Earwig

Ear′wig′, n. [AS. eárwicga; eáre ear + wicga beetle, worm: cf. Prov. E. erri-wiggle.] 1. (Zoöl.) Any insect of the genus Forticula and related genera, belonging to the order Euplexoptera.

2. (Zoöl.) In America, any small chilopodous myriapod, esp. of the genus Geophilus.

☞ Both insects are so called from the supposition that they creep into the human ear.

3. A whisperer of insinuations; a secret counselor. Johnson.

Ear′wig′ (ēr′wĭg′), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Earwigged; p. pr. & vb. n. Earwigging.] To influence, or attempt to influence, by whispered insinuations or private talk. "No longer was he earwigged by the Lord Cravens." Lord Campbell.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.