Wasp

wasp

noun

{bc}any of numerous social or solitary winged hymenopterous insects (especially families Sphecidae and Vespidae) that usually have a slender smooth body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk, well-developed wings, biting mouthparts, and in the females and workers an often formidable sting, and that are largely carnivorous and often provision their nests with insects or spiders killed or paralyzed by stinging for their larvae to feed on {dx}compare {dxt|bee||}{/dx}

WASP

noun

{bc}an American of Northern European and especially British ancestry and of Protestant background

wasp*ish

adjective

{bc}resembling a wasp in behavior

wasp waist

noun

{bc}a very slender waist

digger wasp

noun

{bc}a burrowing wasp

fig wasp

noun

{bc}a minute wasp ({it}Blastophaga psenes{/it} of the family Agaontidae) that breeds in the caprifig and is the agent of caprification

gall wasp

noun

{bc}any of a family (Cynipidae) of hymenopterous gallflies

ichneumon wasp

noun

{bc}any of a large family (Ichneumonidae) of brown or black hymenopterous insects that have a slender body and long {d_link|ovipositor|ovipositor} and whose larvae are parasites of the larvae and pupae of various insects

mason wasp

noun

{bc}any of various solitary vespid wasps (subfamily Eumeninae) that construct nests of hardened mud

paper wasp

noun

{bc}a vespid wasp (especially genus {it}Polistes{/it}) that builds a nest of papery material