the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. any one of numerous species of terrestrial Isopoda belonging to Oniscus, Porcellio, and allied genera of the family Oniscidæ. They feed chiefly on decaying vegetable substances.
n.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. A hog-louse; a pill-bug; a sow; any terrestrial isopod of the family Oniscidæ, as Oniscus asellus. Some sow-bugs can roll themselves up into a ball like a tiny armadillo. See sow, n., 2, and cut under Oniscus.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
n. terrestrial isopod having an oval segmented body (a shape like a sow)
Word Usage
"It's so large, in comparison to its land-dwelling relative, the familiar and even slightly cute pillbug or sowbug, because of the phenomenon of deep sea gigantism, which also gives rise to the giant squid."