What it means
Used as a verb, earwig means to listen in on someone else's conversation when you weren't invited into it. It's plain old eavesdropping, but with a cheeky, nosy little flavour to it. You'd hear it for someone lurking on the bus, in the pub, or through thin walls, then acting innocent when they get clocked.
Usage examples
"Oi, stop earwigging, yeah? I’m trying to book the holiday. Next thing I know you’re telling Mum my budget like you paid it."
"My sister was earwigging from the kitchen the whole time we were planning her surprise party."
"Stop earwigging on the boss's call, you'll only get yourself in trouble when she catches you."
"Don't act busy on your phone, I can see you earwigging our whole conversation from the next table."
"He was proper earwigging on the train, then laughed at the punchline like he'd been invited into the chat."
Where it comes from
Earwig started life as the insect name, then in British slang it also came to mean a person who listens in or whispers in someone's ear. That sense is recorded by the 19th century. The verb grew naturally from there, so to earwig became to snoop on a conversation you were never meant to be part of.
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