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• ant
  ant

  noun

  any of numerous black, red, brown, or yellow social insects of the family Formicidae, of worldwide distribution especially in warm climates, having a large head with inner jaws for chewing and outer jaws for carrying and digging, and living in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers, a winged queen, and, during breeding seasons, winged males, some species being noted for engaging in warfare, slavemaking, or the cultivation of food sources.
• an't
  an't

  contraction of am not.
• ant-
  ant-

  variant of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic .
• -ant
  -ant

  a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in French and Latin loanwords (pleasant; constant; servant ) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of ” that named by the stem (ascendant; pretendant ), especially in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or other formal procedures (tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant ). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents (propellant; lubricant; deodorant ). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant .
• ant.
  ant.

  abbreviation

  antenna
• Ant.
  Ant.

  abbreviation

  Antarctica.

ant

¹ American  

[ant] / ænt /

noun

• ants
  plural

1. any of numerous black, red, brown, or yellow social insects of the family Formicidae, of worldwide distribution especially in warm climates, having a large head with inner jaws for chewing and outer jaws for carrying and digging, and living in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers, a winged queen, and, during breeding seasons, winged males, some species being noted for engaging in warfare, slavemaking, or the cultivation of food sources.

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idioms

1. have ants in one's pants, to be impatient or eager to act or speak.

an't ² American  

[ant, ahnt, eynt] / ænt, ɑnt, eɪnt /

1. Chiefly British Dialect. contraction of am not.

2. Dialect. ain't.

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ant- ³ American  

1. variant of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic .

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-ant ⁴ American  

1. a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in French and Latin loanwords (pleasant; constant; servant ) and productive in English on this model; -ant has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of ” that named by the stem (ascendant; pretendant ), especially in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or other formal procedures (tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant ). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents (propellant; lubricant; deodorant ). In general, -ant can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant .

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ant. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. antenna

2. antonym.

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Ant. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. Antarctica.

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ant ¹ British  

/ ænt /

noun

1. any small social insect of the widely distributed hymenopterous family Formicidae, typically living in highly organized colonies of winged males, wingless sterile females (workers), and fertile females (queens), which are winged until after mating See also army ant fire ant slave ant wood ant

2. another name for a termite

3. slang to be restless or impatient

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an't ² British  

contraction

1. a rare variant spelling of aren't

2. dialect a variant spelling of ain't

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-ant ³ British  

suffix

1. causing or performing an action or existing in a certain condition; the agent that performs an action

   pleasant

   claimant

   deodorant

   protestant

   servant

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ant- ⁴ British  

prefix

1. a variant of anti-

   antacid

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ant¹

before 1000; Middle English am ( e ) te, em ( e ) te, Old English ǣmette; cognate with Middle Low German āmete, ēm ( e ) te, Middle Dutch amete, Old High German āmeiza ( ā- a- ³ + meizan to beat, cut, cognate with Albanian mih (he) digs), German Ameise. See emmet, mite ¹

Origin of an't²

First recorded in 1700–10; see origin at ain't; aren't

Origin of -ant⁴

< Latin -ant-, present participle stem of verbs in -āre; in many words < French -ant < Latin -ant- or -ent- ( see -ent); akin to Middle English, Old English -and-, -end-, present participle suffix

Explanation

An ant is an insect that lives and works in a large colony of ants. Most ants don't have wings, and some of them have stingers. Ants are related to both bees and wasps, and like them are social insects. Ant colonies can include anywhere from a few dozen to millions of ants, divided into jobs or castes. There isn't a continent in the world that doesn't have ants living there. The Middle English word for ant was ampte, from the Old English æmette and a Germanic root.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ant an't ant- -ant ant. Ant. ants

In his short tenure, Walter ant TWG Global started remaking front office and business operations with the Lakers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

As the authors put it, “one ant alone is a disappointment; it is really no ant at all.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Wilson’s decades of ant studies eventually broadened into a landmark career in conservation until his death in 2021.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

They then identified and synthesized many of the chemical messengers found in the ant brain.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

Smaller tunnels branch off the main chamber, like a massive glowing version of Lita’s fire ant colony sculpture.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

"But thy an't had thi surprise yet," he said, ominously.

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2015

Now I say, my dear, in our case, for lady, read——mum! a word to the wise.—I am in a fine flow of spirits, an’t I?

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

“Sir, I reckon our time is over for today. My deepest apologies, an’t please Your Honor.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

“She’s the forgotten one, an’t she? Our mother—she saw it in her palm, didn’t she?”

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

I broke out crying and begging pardon, and hugged Joe round the neck: who dropped the poker to hug me, and to say, “Ever the best of friends; an’t us, Pip? Don’t cry, old chap!”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

Without human pressures, then, the ant- and termite-eating contingent of the mammalian fauna might be even more common.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2013

At lunch, Carly and I discussed the peculiar habitats of the guild of ant- and termite-loving mammals.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2013

They had retired before a million of men swarming across the country like a vast ant- heap on the move, with a valour that had gained for the British and French forces a deathless glory.

From The Soul of the War by Philip Gibbs

The ant- hills, and the ant-houses in the trees—arboreal ant-hills, so to speak were as conspicuous as ever.

From Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Theodore Roosevelt

Metochy: the relation borne to ants by the tolerated guests in ant- hills; demanding nothing from and giving nothing to the ants; see symphily and synecthry.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by John. B. Smith

Another large group of hovering accents is that formed by French words with such terminations as -our, -ance, -ace, -age, -ant, -ess.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

The present participle active is formed by -ant.

From International Language Past, Present and Future: With Specimens of Esperanto and Grammar by Walter John Clark

They are formed in the Active by means of the endings -ant, -int, and -ont, and in the Passive by means of the endings -at, -it, -ot, with the addition of the adjectival termination -a.

From Esperanto Self-Taught with Phonetic Pronunciation by William W. Mann

Abundance is in Mistral's dialect aboundànci. -ant, -anto.

From Frédéric Mistral Poet and Leader in Provence by Charles Alfred Downer

“You think it was a him? It’s just a dumb ant. Who cares?”

From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

“A speaking ant. I’ll warrant y’art being cute.”

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

“All I did was step on a dumb ant. What is he so freaked out about?”

From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Demot′ic, pertaining to the people: popular: in Egypt. ant., of a kind of writing distinguished from the hieratic, or priestly, and from hieroglyphics.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

Geranius ant., and Geron ant., two rivers of Elis, according to Strabo.

From The River-Names of Europe by Robert Ferguson

See Josephus, Ant. xviii, 2:1; this designation persists in the present Arabic name of the place, Banias.

From Jesus the Christ A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern by James Edward Talmage

As Mr Chippindale would be staying in the Ant. and the remainder of his team would be with him or else in the US.

From Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster C.A. 95/81 by New Zealand. Court of Appeal

Ant. well ought I curse within my grieued soule, Lamenting daie and night, this sencelesse loue, Whereby my faire entising foe entrap’d My hedelesse Reason, could no more escape.

From A Discourse of Life and Death, by Mornay; and Antonius by Garnier by Mary Sidney Herbert

For instance the horns of the female Ant. euchore resemble those of a distinct species, viz. the Ant. dorcas var.

From The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin

But Varro seems to have stated that there was originally only a spear; see a passage of Clement of Alexandria in the fragments of the Ant. rer. div.,

From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by W. Warde Fowler

That shifts attention toward other characteristics that may have helped ants, bees and wasps repeatedly evolve highly cooperative colonies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

"All the birds have gone to bed," he said, adding that a flock of seagulls and choughs had been feeding on flying ants shortly before they returned to the cliffs.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

For many years, scientists have focused on haplodiploidy as a possible explanation for why this lifestyle evolved so often in ants, bees and wasps.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026

“We’re ants, we’re nothing,” I remember him saying, sizing up the state of the American left.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026

But at this direful moment she who had awakened no compassion in mortals or immortals was pitied by the tiniest creatures of the field, the little ants, the swift-runners.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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