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mud dauber

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noun
  1. any of several wasps of the family Sphecidae that build a nest of mud cells and provision it with spiders or insects.
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Origin of mud dauber

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mud dauber

Historical Examples

  • Pelopæus, the Mud-dauber, is now building its earthen cells, plastering them on old rafters and stone walls.

    Our Common Insects

    Alpheus Spring Packard

  • You break down the mud-dauber wasp's nest from among the rafters of some building.

  • He patiently watched the mud-dauber going about her house building.

  • As she swung thus, self-possessed and at ease, suddenly a mud-dauber pounced upon her.

    In the Open

    Stanton Davis Kirkham

  • But in Marions room there is a beam, and against that beam there is the nest of a mud-dauber.

British Dictionary definitions for mud dauber

mud dauber

noun
  1. any of various wasps of the family Sphecidae, that construct cells of mud or clay in which they lay their eggs and store live insects as food for the developing larvaeSee also digger wasp
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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