ˈMay-bug
[May n.3]
The cockchafer; also the chovy.
| 1698 Froger Voy. 48 The Colibrie is a small bird, no bigger than a May-bugg. 1712 [see cockchafer]. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1862) II. iv. vi. 542 The May-bug, or dorr-beetle. 1884 Christian World 18 Sept. 697/2 The sparrow..eats ‘chovies’, or May bugs. |