Meaning

• A louse (Pediculus humanus).

• A louse (Pediculus humanus).

• (usually in the plural) Any germ or contaminant, real or imagined, especially from the opposite gender (for pre-pubescent children).

  "I’m not drinking from his glass until I wash the cooties off it."

• A nest-building female American coot (counterpart to cooter).

• A sideswiper, a type of telegraph key.