termite
Americannoun
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termites
plural
noun
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Any of various pale-colored insects of the order Isoptera that live in large colonies and feed on wood. Termites resemble ants in their appearance, manner of living, and social organization, but are not closely related. Termites can be very destructive to wooden buildings and structures.
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Also called isopteran
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of termite
1775–85; taken as singular of New Latin termites, plural of termes white ant, Latin tarmes wood-eating worm
Explanation
A termite is a tiny insect that can cause big problems. Termites eat wood, and they can severely damage buildings. If you have termites in your house, you'd better call an exterminator. Termites live in large colonies, like ants, and they have a habit of remaining concealed from view. These characteristics, along with their taste for wood, mean they often destroy wooden houses or other structures from the inside, leaving a thin layer of wood that hides the destruction until it's too late to stop it. In some places, it's common for people to eat termites.
Vocabulary lists containing termite
Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Amazing Animals, List 2
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for May 6–May 12, 2023
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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:
“It’s like a termite almost, just kind of chips away every day,” Sohn said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Wilson wonders if his particular termite art — treating street B-roll like a hidden archive of absurd humanity — has a place in the cutthroat film world of today.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Poulos and his colleagues examined fresh western drywood termite pellets along with samples aged for three months, six months, and one year.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
To a western drywood termite living inside wood, that scent can act like a signal pointing toward a potentially attractive part of its environment.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
She chopped up old termite mounds and used the clay to make pots, firing them in heaps of coals.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
The termites continued toward their next molt, but eventually failed to complete it successfully and died.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Drywood termites molt about seven times during their lives, shedding the old exoskeleton and replacing it with a larger one.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
A study published in 2025 in the Journal of Economic Entomology showed that bistrifluron, an insect growth regulator that interferes with the formation of a new exoskeleton, can kill western drywood termites with remarkable efficiency.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Within 24 to 48 hours, material from the exposed termites had reached previously untreated nestmates.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Although snacking on termites had amused them, they had argued with each other about how to do the science, how to search for the virus.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
