delouse

verb

"delouse" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“delouse” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To remove lice from.

Corpus desk

Index EN-delouse · delouse · English

delouse · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for delouse
PropertyValue
Headworddelouse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “delouse” in English

delouseranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

delouse is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for delouse in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + louse. The correct English form is delouse, spelled D-E-L-O-U-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To remove lice from.
  2. 2
    To apply insecticides or insect repellents to, in order to be sure that no lice or other parasites are present.
  3. 3
    To remove malicious software, such as viruses, trojans, spyware, or worms, from.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how delouse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. A veterinarian could delouse your dog.
  2. During the Korean Conflict, American soldiers were deloused with DDT upon entering basic training.

Etymology

From de- + louse.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "delouse"?
"delouse" is spelled D-E-L-O-U-S-E.
What does "delouse" mean?
As a verb, "delouse" means: To remove lice from.
What is the origin of the word "delouse"?
From de- + louse. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list