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pismire

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

noun

  1. an ant.


pismire British  
/ ˈpɪsˌmaɪə /

noun

  1. an archaic or dialect word for an 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

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

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:

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

Give but my spirit its desired scope, - A giant in a pismire, I not grope; Deny it,—and an ant, with on my back A firmament, the skiey vault will crack.

From Poems by Francis Thompson

I never saw her again; that was fate, or...to never see the wanted is that phenomenal blindness; to never have the beauty is pismire.

From Voices from the Past by Paul Alexander Bartlett

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 George Meredith

Must we unto the pismire go to school,     To learn of her in summer to provide For winter next ensuing.

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by John Bunyan

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