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
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.
After accounting for the unusual evolutionary history of the aculeate Hymenoptera, the researchers found that haplodiploid insects outside that group developed eusociality at rates similar to those seen in diploid insects.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
However, nearly all of that pattern can be traced to one particular group: the aculeate Hymenoptera, which includes stinging wasps, bees and ants.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
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 Charles Darwin
Ovicells aculeate, with strong widely set spines, pyriform depressed.
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 Edward Saunders
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