"harmonica bug" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From harmonica for the tone that activates or deactivates the device, and bug (an electronic eavesdropping device).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harmonica bugs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "harmonica bug (plural harmonica bugs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Telephony",
          "orig": "en:Telephony",
          "parents": [
            "Electronics",
            "Telecommunications",
            "Technology",
            "Communication",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No Place to Hide, page xii:",
          "text": "The most interesting device for tapping a telephone, though, is still the old reliable “harmonica bug,” which was invented in the early sixties by an electronics wizard from Lower Manhattan, Emanuel Mittleman.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Surveillance Technology, page 18:",
          "text": "Whoever invented the harmonica bug realized that it's nearly impossible to find a bug that isn't operating, so he devised one that can be turned on and off by remote control.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, Sonny Kleinfield, The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT & T, page 240:",
          "text": "It is, of course, tough to find a bug that isn't operating, which is at the heart of the harmonica bug principle.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, Vernon Tom Hyman, Giant Killer, page 78:",
          "text": "The misplaced telephone receiver suggests they may have left a harmonica bug.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An electronic eavesdropping device (bug) that attaches to a landline telephone and is activated or deactivated by a specific tone. When activated, it prevents the telephone from ringing but activates its microphone to transmit to another telephone at a remote location."
      ],
      "id": "en-harmonica_bug-en-noun-3dDe1UFt",
      "links": [
        [
          "electronic",
          "electronic"
        ],
        [
          "eavesdropping",
          "eavesdropping"
        ],
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ],
        [
          "bug",
          "bug"
        ],
        [
          "landline",
          "landline"
        ],
        [
          "telephone",
          "telephone"
        ],
        [
          "activate",
          "activate"
        ],
        [
          "deactivate",
          "deactivate"
        ],
        [
          "tone",
          "tone"
        ],
        [
          "prevent",
          "prevent"
        ],
        [
          "ring",
          "ring"
        ],
        [
          "microphone",
          "microphone"
        ],
        [
          "remote",
          "remote"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "infinity transmitter"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "harmonica bug"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From harmonica for the tone that activates or deactivates the device, and bug (an electronic eavesdropping device).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "harmonica bugs",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "harmonica bug (plural harmonica bugs)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "en:Telephony"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975, Alan LeMond, Ron Fry, No Place to Hide, page xii:",
          "text": "The most interesting device for tapping a telephone, though, is still the old reliable “harmonica bug,” which was invented in the early sixties by an electronics wizard from Lower Manhattan, Emanuel Mittleman.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1975, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Surveillance Technology, page 18:",
          "text": "Whoever invented the harmonica bug realized that it's nearly impossible to find a bug that isn't operating, so he devised one that can be turned on and off by remote control.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1982, Sonny Kleinfield, The Biggest Company on Earth: A Profile of AT & T, page 240:",
          "text": "It is, of course, tough to find a bug that isn't operating, which is at the heart of the harmonica bug principle.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1985, Vernon Tom Hyman, Giant Killer, page 78:",
          "text": "The misplaced telephone receiver suggests they may have left a harmonica bug.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An electronic eavesdropping device (bug) that attaches to a landline telephone and is activated or deactivated by a specific tone. When activated, it prevents the telephone from ringing but activates its microphone to transmit to another telephone at a remote location."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "electronic",
          "electronic"
        ],
        [
          "eavesdropping",
          "eavesdropping"
        ],
        [
          "device",
          "device"
        ],
        [
          "bug",
          "bug"
        ],
        [
          "landline",
          "landline"
        ],
        [
          "telephone",
          "telephone"
        ],
        [
          "activate",
          "activate"
        ],
        [
          "deactivate",
          "deactivate"
        ],
        [
          "tone",
          "tone"
        ],
        [
          "prevent",
          "prevent"
        ],
        [
          "ring",
          "ring"
        ],
        [
          "microphone",
          "microphone"
        ],
        [
          "remote",
          "remote"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "infinity transmitter"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "harmonica bug"
}