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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:

In 2021, the department tracked a hornet’s activity, and observed it repeatedly return to the same nest and remove the paper wasp larvae.

From Seattle Times May 25, 2022

With the help of Lien Thi Phuong Nguyen, a wasp expert at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Dr. Schöllhorn collected nests from several paper wasp species around Vietnam.

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 Gibson, W. Hamilton (William Hamilton)

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