The meaning of COOTIE is body louse; also : head louse. How to use cootie in a sentence.

COOTIE definition: a wooden container, especially a wooden bowl, for storing or serving food or drink. See examples of cootie used in a sentence.

Cooties is a fictitious childhood disease, commonly represented as childlore. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines as a rejection term and an infection tag …

COOTIE definition: 1. a real or imaginary germ or disease, especially one that is infectious: 2. a very small insect…. Learn more.

Oct 24, 2025 · Simply put, cootie is a playful term for imaginary germs or lice that kids (and sometimes adults) use to “tag” someone as unclean or catch a pretend disease.

Nov 1, 2025 · cootie (plural cooties) (dated, British Army military slang or Canada, US, colloquial) A louse (Pediculus humanus). quotations

Oct 13, 2023 · That’s right: Cooties are fake, but they have a real — and important — history. It starts in the Pacific. Many different Austronesian languages use words that sound vaguely like “cootie” to …

cootie in American English (ˈkuti ) noun Origin: Brit WWI army slang, earlier a seaman's term < Malay kutu, dog tick slang louse (sense 1a) [now chiefly a child's term]

Sep 21, 2025 · Originating from World War I, the term “cootie” derived from British military slang, which in turn came from the Malay “kutu,” meaning a parasitic bug such as a head louse.

There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun cootie. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.