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fire ant

American

noun

any of several omnivorous ants, as the migrant Solenopsis geminata originating in tropical and subtropical South America, having a sting that produces a burning sensation.

fire ant British

noun

any mound-building predatory ant of the genus Solenopsis , of tropical and subtropical America, that can inflict a painful sting

"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

Etymology

Origin of fire ant

First recorded in 1790–1800

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.

See Examples For:

fire ant

I was sitting on a fire ant hill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 6, 2026

Inexperienced pest management workers might try to pour liquid insecticide on red imported fire ant nests, Taravati said, but it’s not so simple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2024

Collective insect aggregations like fire ant rafts already are inspiring researchers to develop materials with stimuli-responsive mechanical properties and behaviors.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024

In November, local authorities reported that several new fire ant nests had spread into New South Wales from the Queensland border for the very first time - prompting a nationwide funding boost for eradication efforts.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2024

These were the campaigns against the gypsy moth in the northeastern states and the fire ant in the South.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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