bulldog ant

American

noun

any of several aggressive ants of the genus Myrmecia, mostly of Australia and Tasmania, capable of inflicting a painful and potentially dangerous sting.

bulldog ant British

noun

another name for bull ant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bulldog ant

First recorded in 1850–55

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.

There is one specially vicious ant called the bulldog ant, because of its pluck.

From Project Gutenberg

A bulldog ant must have stung the boss.

From Project Gutenberg

He'd have to go out and sleep in the scrub, where the mosquitoes and bulldog ants would bite him out of his sleep.

From Project Gutenberg

Generally speaking, whenever I saw a shady desert oak-tree there was an enormous bulldog ants' nest under it, and I was prevented from sitting in its shade.

From Project Gutenberg

Try to kill the bulldog ant with a stick, and it will face you and try to bite back until the very last gasp, never thinking of running away.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023