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Synonyms

hornet

American  
[hawr-nit] / ˈhɔr nɪt /

noun

  1. any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro giant hornet, introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata bald-faced hornet, or white-faced hornet, of North America.

hornet British  
/ ˈhɔːnɪt /

noun

  1. any of various large social wasps of the family Vespidae, esp Vespa crabro of Europe, that can inflict a severe sting

  2. a strongly unfavourable reaction (often in the phrase stir up a hornet's nest )

"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
hornet Idioms  

  1. see mad as a hornet; stir up a hornet's nest.

Etymology

Origin of hornet

First recorded before 900; Middle English harnete, Old English hyrnet(u); cognate with Old High German hornaz (becoming German Horniss ); akin to horn

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.

As reported in the journal Ecosphere, Sugiura found clear evidence that adult pond frogs actively launched attacks on workers of all three hornet species.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025

This suggests that the frogs in the study may have developed a dual resistance to both the painful and harmful effects of hornet venom, allowing them to successfully hunt and consume hornet workers.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2025

All of those within the hive need fed and the Asian hornet can eat up to 50 honey bees a day.

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2025

Let’s return to one of our original questions: Why don’t our institutions, with the exception of the hornet eradication apparatus, work?

From Slate • Dec. 19, 2024

Maybe this was why the other kid that they’d found in here had been as big as a whale, he was swole up from all the hornet stings!

From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis

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.