wasp
noun
any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger.
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wasp
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WASP
WASPnouna member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944.
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Wasp
WaspacronymWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant: a person descended from N European, usually Protestant stock, forming a group often considered the most dominant, privileged, and influential in American society
wasp
1 American
[wosp]
/ wɒsp /
noun
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wasps
plural
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any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger.
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a person who is snappish or petulant.
WASP
2
American
[wosp]
/ wɒsp /
noun
WASP
3
American
[wosp]
/ wɒsp /
Or
Wasp
noun
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a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
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a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S.
adjective
wasp
1
British
/ wɒsp /
noun
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any social hymenopterous insect of the family Vespidae, esp Vespula vulgaris ( common wasp ), typically having a black-and-yellow body and an ovipositor specialized for stinging See also potter wasp hornet
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any of various solitary hymenopterans, such as the digger wasp and gall wasp
Wasp
2
British
/ wɒsp /
acronym
WASP
Cultural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wasp1
First recorded before 900; Middle English waspe, Old English wæsp, metathetic variant of wæps, itself variant of wæfs; cognate with Dutch wesp, German Wespe; akin to Latin vespa
Origin of WASP3
First recorded in 1955–60
Explanation
Wasps are flying insects related to bees and ants. While some wasps can inflict painful stings, if you don't disturb their nest and avoid stepping on or swatting them, you're unlikely to be stung. Yellow jackets and hornets are types of wasps. Like their bee relatives, wasps are important pollinators. They also help control bug populations by feeding smaller bugs (including pests like aphids) to their young. Because wasp stings can hurt a lot, many people fear wasps. But most wasp species do not have stingers that can pierce a person's skin, and only females have stingers at all. Unless you bother them, these buzzing insects will leave you alone. Wasp is related to the Latin word for wasp, vespa.
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:
Some had trees growing through fallen roofs, one had a wasp nest peeking out the window, and many had red diamonds indicating they were at risk of collapse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
He said it was also home to a number of rare invertebrates including "beetles and the beewolf wasp that depend on the mosaic of heathland and grassland habitats to survive".
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Two floors below, IV bags filled with grasses, fungus and a wasp nest hang from the ceiling as part of a meditation on the healing aspects of the environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
He recalls thinking, "it would be nice to write a short paper reporting the occurrence of these wasp nests in the mandibles."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
It was a black arrow with yellow bands round it, like a wasp, and its cock feather was yellow.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Scraping her savings together, Dybbro took flying lessons at $10 an hour — which equates to about $180 an hour today — to earn the pilot’s license required to apply to be a WASP.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
My mother was an old-line WASP; her ancestry can easily be traced back to 16th-century England, and in some cases further than that.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2021
In the original novel, Benjamin was a tall, athletic WASP.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2021
“Nobody thinks of me as the ultimate WASP, but I am,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2015
He was a keen golfer, a horn-rimmed glasses wearer, the epitome of the New England WASP.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Wasp nests typically have rough walls made from chewed plant material and saliva.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
“The Marvels” was a misfire, and movies including “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” appeared to signal a drop-off in quality.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025
In these areas Saab's boss is eager to promote its own solutions, such as the GlobalEye airborne early warning and control platform, and its Sea Wasp, a remotely-controlled underwater vehicle that can neutralise explosive devices.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025
Content sales and licensing revenue tumbled 40% because Disney didn’t release any significant movie titles during the second quarter as compared with the prior-year period, which included the release of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2024
Wasp yanked the wheel, and the taxi swerved away from the rail.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
However, nearly all of that pattern can be traced to one particular group: the aculeate Hymenoptera, which includes stinging wasps, bees and ants.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
It was found in the spring; wasps don’t make nests in the winter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Although honey bees and paper wasps are well known for building large communal nests, most bee species actually live alone.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
Despite the flowers looking like flies, they actually attract digger wasps, according to The Wildlife Trusts, external.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
She is like a cup of warm lemonade buzzed about with wasps.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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.
