buscaniguas

Spanish

Etymology

Verb-object compound, composed of busca (“to search for”) +‎ niguas.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buskaˈniɡwas/ [bus.kaˈni.ɣ̞was]
• Rhymes: -iɡwas
• Syllabification: bus‧ca‧ni‧guas

Noun

buscaniguas m (plural buscaniguas)

1. (colloquial, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia) firecracker set off to move horizontally close to the ground

   Synonym: buscapiés

Further reading

• “buscaniguas”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
• “buscaniguas” in Diccionario de americanismos, Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, 2010