sowpig

English

Noun

sowpig (plural sowpigs)

1. (Cornwall) A woodlouse.
   • 1896, The Fishing Gazette, page 461:

     […] he went in search of some sowpigs (woodlouse), and while doing this had the good fortune, in turning up a stone, to find the fly I had come after.

   • 2021, Enys Tregarthen, North Cornwall Fairies and Legends:

     […] sowpigs, all of which were in small stone enclosures. Moving about among the animals were Little Men who were dressed like farmers, but whether they were farmers or not he could not tell.

   • 2024, Dominic Couzens, ‎Gail Ashton, A Year of Garden Bees and Bugs

     The hatchling sowpigs (Cornwall) that leave the maternal pouch are tiny, soft and pale but soon harden up.