carpenter ant
noun
a black or brown ant of the genus Camponotus that nests in the wood of decaying or dead trees in which it bores tunnels for depositing its eggs.
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Origin of carpenter ant
First recorded in 1880–85
Words nearby carpenter ant
carpe diem, carpel, carpellate, Carpentaria, carpenter, carpenter ant, carpenter bee, carpenter gothic, carpentering, carpenter moth, Carpenter's syndrome
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for carpenter ant
One kind of carpenter-ant covers its walls with a mixture of sawdust, earth, and spiders' webs.
The Adventures of a Grain of Dust|Hallam HawksworthAmong these are the two large species of carpenter-ant before mentioned, which work in stumps or fallen timber.
The carpenter-ant has no moral sense, and is not amenable either to kindness or blows.
Falling in Love|Grant Allen