formicary
Americannoun
PLURAL
formicariesnoun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of formicary
1810–20; < Medieval Latin formīcārium ant hill, noun use of neuter of *formīcārius of, pertaining to ants. See formic, -arium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She was moving back and forth with cautious mien, and I easily perceived was putting finishing touches to the closure of a little hole that marked the gate of her formicary hut.
From Project Gutenberg
The formicaries of the two species are often in close contact, so that the nature of the soil is precisely the same.
From Project Gutenberg
He can spend a happy day in watching the busy affairs of a formicary, and to observe the progress of a bit of spider-web architecture gives him a peculiar joy.
From Project Gutenberg
On one occasion, I took ten Lasius niger and confined them in a specially constructed formicary so that they could not possibly leave the nest.
From Project Gutenberg
Several queens often exist in one nest, and I have seen workers drag newly fertilized queens into a formicary to enlarge their resources.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
