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pismire

[ pis-mahyuhr, piz- ]
/ ˈpɪsˌmaɪər, ˈpɪz- /

noun

an ant.

QUIZZES

THIS PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ IS PERFECT PRACTICE FOR THE REAL TEST

In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?
Question 1 of 10
seclusion
a false belief or opinion.
the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of pismire

1350–1400; Middle English pissemyre, equivalent to pisse to urinate + obsolete mire ant, perhaps <Scandinavian (compare Danish myre,Swedish myra), cognate with Dutch mier; pejorative name from stench of formic acid proper to ants

Words nearby pismire

Pisidian, pisiform, pisiform bone, Pisistratidae, Pisistratus, pismire, pismo clam, pisolite, pisolith, piss, piss about
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Example sentences from the Web for pismire

British Dictionary definitions for pismire

pismire
/ (ˈpɪsˌmaɪə) /

noun

an archaic or dialect word for an ant

Word Origin for pismire

C14 (literally: urinating ant, from the odour of formic acid characteristic of an ant hill): from piss + obsolete mire ant, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse maurr, Middle Low German mīre ant
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