Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for cow killer. Search instead for crown filler.

cow killer

American  

noun

  1. 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.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training