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cow killer

American

noun

the wingless female of any of several velvet ants, especially Dasymutilla occidentalis, of the southern U.S., which inflicts a painful sting.

Etymology

Origin of cow killer

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.