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paper wasp

American  

noun

  1. any of several social wasps, as the yellow jacket or hornet, that construct a nest of a paperlike substance consisting of chewed plant material.


Etymology

Origin of paper wasp

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55


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:

The project requires participants to “adopt” paper wasp nests and monitor them weekly from June through October to see if they are visited by hornets, the agency said in a news release.

From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2022

The cocoon caps of several paper wasp species, relatives of some you may see in your yard, fluoresce yellow-green under ultraviolet light and lend the whole nest a groovy glow.

From New York Times ● Sep. 2, 2021

One of the brightest green glows in the animal kingdom doesn’t come from a firefly or a deep-sea fish—it radiates from the nests of the Asian paper wasp, according to a new study.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 24, 2021

On Sept. 21, a family in Whatcom County, Washington, found the first hornet in a paper wasp nest in their home, then deployed a citizen trap where they caught a second and third.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2020

Being in need of a good, healthy, toe-twisting, neck-twirling specimen to sit for his portrait in an illustration for a forthcoming article on the paper wasp, I cast my eye about my easel.

From Eye Spy Afield with Nature Among Flowers and Animate Things by W. Hamilton (William Hamilton) Gibson

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