ant

¹

[ant]

noun

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.

an't

²

[ant, ahnt, eynt]

1. Chiefly British Dialect.,  contraction of am not.

2. Dialect.,  ain't.

ant-

³

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

-ant

⁴

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 .

ant.

⁵

abbreviation

1. antenna

2. antonym.

Ant.

⁶

abbreviation

1. Antarctica.

ant

¹

/ 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

an't

²

contraction

1. a rare variant spelling of aren't

2. dialect,  a variant spelling of ain't

-ant

³

suffix

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

   pleasant

   claimant

   deodorant

   protestant

   servant

ant-

⁴

prefix

1. a variant of anti-

   antacid

Other Word Forms

• antlike adjective

Word History and Origins

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 ant²

First recorded in 1700–10; ain't; aren't

Origin of ant³

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ant¹

Old English ǣmette; related to Old High German āmeiza, Old Norse meita; see _emmet

Origin of ant²

from Latin -ant-, ending of present participles of the first conjugation

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

Example Sentences

Like a cat stalking an ant, Woo starts climbing up a nearby tree— his eyes trained onto the insect.

Read more on Literature

“Look at them all! They keep coming, like ants at a picnic. I want nothing to do with it, if you please,” she exclaimed, and waddled off to inspect her tulip garden once more.

Read more on Literature

The servants streamed out from the house like ants to remove Lady Constance’s many floral-upholstered trunks from the carriage.

Read more on Literature

Daddy would point out the moths, carpenter ants, and roly-poly bugs beneath the bark of dead logs.

Read more on Literature

They’ll find another way to cross that stream, no matter how many ants it takes.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aphid 
• bee 
• beetle 
• butterfly 
• cockroach 
• dragonfly 
• flea 
• fruit fly 
• gnat 
• grasshopper 
• ladybug 
• mite 
• mosquito 
• moth 
• pest 
• spider 
• termite 
• tick