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carpenter ant

American

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.

Etymology

Origin of carpenter ant

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

One purpose of landscape art can be to evoke awe, to make the viewer feel as small as a carpenter ant at a skyscraper construction site.

From New York Times • Mar. 8, 2012

Not long ago I accidentally killed a carpenter ant, and in a few minutes a comrade appeared who slowly, and apparently with great labor and fatigue, bore away the body.

From Miss Elliot's Girls Stories of Beasts, Birds, and Butterflies by Corning, Mary Spring

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