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slave ant

American

noun

an ant taken as a larva or pupa by ants of another species and becoming a working member of the captor colony.

slave ant British

noun

any of various ants, esp Formica fusca, captured and forced to do the work of a colony of ants of another species ( slave-making ants ) See also amazon 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 slave ant

First recorded in 1865–70

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.

A master ant presently came along, an animated conversation took place, and the slave ant was seized upon and borne off again to bondage.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems probable that they now creep into a nest of the far more powerful slave ants, poison or assassinate the queen, and establish themselves by sheer usurpation in the queenless nest.

From Project Gutenberg

The same gentleman another day observed a slave ant venture out to the entrance to the ant-hill to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023