digger wasp

noun

any of numerous solitary wasps of the family Sphecidae, which excavate nests in soil, wood, etc., and provision them with prey paralyzed by stinging.

Origin of digger wasp

First recorded in 1840–50

Words Nearby digger wasp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use digger wasp in a sentence

It is very wonderful that Mrs. Digger-Wasp knows where to sting a caterpillar in order to paralyze it and yet not kill it.
Little Busybodies | Jeanette Augustus Marks and Julia Moody
Well, Mrs. Digger-Wasp stings one or more of these little knots, which we call ganglia.
Little Busybodies | Jeanette Augustus Marks and Julia Moody
Chesterton's method in writing it is that of the digger wasp.
G. K. Chesterton, A Critical Study | Julius West
The young digger-wasp set to work upon the grasshopper, and the little ichneumon began to eat the wasp-grub.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10. | Various

British Dictionary definitions for digger wasp

digger wasp

noun

any solitary wasp of the families Sphecidae and Pamphilidae that digs nest holes in the ground, rotten wood, or a hollow stem and stocks them with live insects for the larvae

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

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