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leaf-cutting bee

American  

noun

  1. any of the bees of the family Megachilidae that cut circular pieces from leaves or flowers to line their nests.

Etymology

Origin of leaf-cutting bee

First recorded in 1795–1805

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.

A small leaf-cutting bee was hurrying about with its shrill busy hum in the vicinity, and in due time came to the sunflower and settled on it.

From The Naturalist in La Plata by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

I was rather surprised that they were not cut quite off, for a leaf-cutting bee can use its teeth as deftly as a tailor can his shears.

From The Naturalist in La Plata by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

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.