earwigging

UK: /ˈɪəˌwɪɡɪŋ/

From the verb earwig: (⇒ conjugate)

earwigging is: ⓘ

v pres p

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

earwigging / ˈɪəˌwɪɡɪŋ/ noun

1. a scolding or harangue: I'll give him an earwigging about that

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ear•wig  (ēr′wig′), n., v., -wigged, -wig•ging. 
n. 

1. Insects any of numerous elongate, nocturnal insects of the order Dermaptera, having a pair of large, movable pincers at the rear of the abdomen.

v.t. 

2. to fill the mind of with prejudice by insinuations.

• bef. 1000; Middle English erwigge, Old English ēarwicga ear insect; from the notion that it enters people's ears. See wiggle

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

earwig / ˈɪəˌwɪɡ/ noun

1. any of various insects of the order Dermaptera, esp Forficula auricularia (common European earwig), which typically have an elongated body with small leathery forewings, semicircular membranous hindwings, and curved forceps at the tip of the abdomen

verb ( -wigs, -wigging, -wigged)

1. to eavesdrop
2. (transitive) to attempt to influence (a person) by private insinuation

Etymology: Old English ēarwicga, from ēare ear¹ + wicga beetle, insect; probably from a superstition that the insect crept into human ears