noun

• A louse which infests the hair of the human head and is especially common among schoolchildren.

  Pediculus humanus capitis, family Pediculidae, order Anoplura. See also body louse

  ‘An intense itch of a particular part of your body may be due to the presence of lice (body lice, head lice, pubic lice).’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It is a common mistake to associate head lice with dirty hair.’
  • ‘People can be infested with three types of lice: body lice, head lice and crab or pubic lice.’
  • ‘If they knew how long ago body lice diverged from head lice, they should know the likely date for the appearance of the first clothes, too.’
  • ‘The team examined differences between parts of the genes of body lice and head lice.’
  • ‘Outbreaks of head lice are most common in school-aged children.’
  • ‘Parents generally discover head lice by seeing the nits in a child's hair, or when children complain of itching.’
  • ‘Finally, be aware that the head louse is only one of three lice species found in humans.’
  • ‘So, how do you treat head lice, especially when lice are becoming resistant to common over-the-counter treatments?’
  • ‘A child should be allowed to return to school after proper treatment and should not miss valuable school time because of head lice.’
  • ‘Much to many parents' annoyance, the head louse is a tiny, wingless parasitic insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on extremely small amounts of blood drawn from the scalp.’
  • ‘The head louse is an external parasite of the human host.’
  • ‘Bug busting, a popular alternative to insecticide treatment for head lice, involves combing a child's hair with a fine toothed comb every few days.’
  • ‘Fine tooth combing of wet hair is an effective method of detecting head lice but unproved as a treatment’
  • ‘Basically, anyone who has hair can contract head lice.’
  • ‘When you suspect that a child has head lice, inspect the hair.’
  • ‘‘This problem has got worse recently, and head lice are much more common than they used to be,’ the site adds.’
  • ‘Nits are not a sign of active infestation with head lice.’
  • ‘The head louse begins as an egg laid near the scalp and ‘glued’ firmly to a hair shaft.’
  • ‘Infestation with head lice is a widespread condition that is seen most commonly, but not exclusively, in children of school age, although there is no proof of a link with school attendance.’