wasp

[ wosp ]

noun
  1. any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger.

  2. a person who is snappish or petulant.

Origin of wasp

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English waspe, Old English wæsp, metathetic variant of wæps, itself variant of wæfs; cognate with Dutch wesp, German Wespe; akin to Latin vespa

Other words from wasp

  • wasplike, adjective

Words Nearby wasp

Other definitions for WASP (2 of 3)

WASP1
[ wosp ]

noun
  1. a member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944.

Other definitions for WASP (3 of 3)

WASP2

or Wasp

[ wosp ]

noun
  1. a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

  2. a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S.

adjective

Origin of WASP

3
First recorded in 1955–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wasp in a sentence

  • Soon after he had some lively service in the wasp, and captured a British privateer with the little sloop Sachem.

  • Of the 110 men on the Frolic there were not twenty alive and unhurt, while on the wasp only five were dead and five wounded.

  • The game was up with the wasp and her prize, for the new ship was the Poictiers, a great seventy-four ship-of-the-line.

  • The honey in this pot was once a wasp's nest, but since being transformed it has become sweet and delicious.

    The Tin Woodman of Oz | L. Frank Baum
  • The first thing the wasp found at sea was a mighty gale of wind, that blew "great guns" for two days.

British Dictionary definitions for wasp (1 of 2)

wasp

/ (wɒsp) /


noun
  1. any social hymenopterous insect of the family Vespidae, esp Vespula vulgaris (common wasp), typically having a black-and-yellow body and an ovipositor specialized for stinging: See also potter wasp, hornet Related adjective: vespine

  2. any of various solitary hymenopterans, such as the digger wasp and gall wasp

Origin of wasp

1
Old English wæsp; related to Old Saxon waspa, Old High German wefsa, Latin vespa

Derived forms of wasp

  • wasplike, adjective
  • waspy, adjective
  • waspily, adverb
  • waspiness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for Wasp (2 of 2)

Wasp

WASP

/ (wɒsp) /


n acronym for(in the US)
  1. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a person descended from N European, usually Protestant stock, forming a group often considered the most dominant, privileged, and influential in American society

Derived forms of Wasp

  • Waspy, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for WASP

WASP

An acronym for “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant” — a member of what many consider to be the most privileged and influential group in American society.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.