A small brown insect with pincers at its rear end that sometimes hides in dark, warm places like ears.
From Old English 'ēarwicga,' combining 'ēare' (ear) and 'wicga' (creature or insect). The name comes from an old European myth that these insects crawl into people's ears at night, though this is completely false.
The earwig's bad reputation is totally undeserved—they don't crawl into ears at all, they're actually beneficial garden insects that eat pests and dead plants. The myth probably started because people found them in ears after sleeping outdoors, and they panicked!
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