pismire

American  

[pis-mahy^uhr, piz-] / ˈpɪsˌmaɪər, ˈpɪz- /

noun

1. an ant.

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pismire British  

/ ˈpɪsˌmaɪə /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect word for an ant

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

All of us are able to smell ants, for which the great word pismire was originally coined.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

At first he said he was a pismire, but the Speaker said pismire was not parliamentary, and he modified it to grasshopper.

From Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 08, May 21, 1870 by Various

Truly 'tis said:      "For ruin and the deeds preluding change,      Fear not great Beasts, nor Eagles when they range:      But dread the crawling worm or pismire mean,      Satan selects them, for they are unseen."

From Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith by Meredith, George

Well, you see as how I waited, and my mind was like as it might ha' been set on a pismire hillock, I waur so uneasy.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John

Yet all this lenity will not overcome their spleen; they will be doing with the pismire, raising a hill a man may spurn abroad with his foot at pleasure.

From Every Man in His Humor by Jonson, Ben