aculeate
Americanadjective
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Biology. having or being any sharp-pointed structure.
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having a slender ovipositor or sting, as the hymenopterous insects.
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pointed; stinging.
adjective
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cutting; pointed
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having prickles or spines, as a rose
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having a sting, as bees, wasps, and ants
Other Word Forms
- nonaculeate adjective
- nonaculeated adjective
Etymology
Origin of aculeate
From the Latin word acūleātus, dating back to 1595–1605. See aculeus, -ate 1
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.
Hymonoptera, large size of the cerebral ganglia in; classification of; sexual differences in the wings of; aculeate, relative size of the sexes of.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
For none, however socially or financially powerful, was safe from the stab of that aculeate pen, the venom of whose ink is to gleam vividly from the pages of literature for centuries yet to come.
From The Letters of Ambrose Bierce With a Memoir by George Sterling by Bierce, Ambrose
Stipites: the outer pair of forceps in male genitalia of aculeate Hymenoptera see sagittae.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Sagittae: the inner pair of forceps in male genitalia of aculeate Hymenoptera: see stipites.
From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.
Some fossors are subject to the depredations of cuckoos, just as the solitary bees are, but their cuckoos are rarely of aculeate origin.
From Wild Bees, Wasps and Ants and Other Stinging Insects by Saunders, Edward
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.
