wasp
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.
a person who is snappish or petulant.
Origin of wasp
1Other words from wasp
- wasplike, adjective
Other definitions for WASP (2 of 3)
a member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944.
Other definitions for WASP (3 of 3)
or Wasp
a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S.
Origin of WASP
3Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use wasp in a sentence
“WASPs are like the Alawites of America, a rare breed,” says the now 70-year-old Sheehy.
Scott did his best to play his role as the Walter White of the WASPs.
Wasps, birds, rodents, small mammals, and snakes will all dine on the Magicicadas of Brood II.
For middle-aged WASPs like me, the pace of change can be deeply unsettling.
When In Doubt, Mumble—Dynamic Inaction May Be Our Best Hope | Joe McLean | April 6, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNearly empty of Wasps, however, are electric-car manufactories, Internet startups, and the X Games.
At Sonepur flies having failed, wasps have come forth to warn the public and the authorities, but yet to no purpose.
Third class in Indian railways | Mahatma GandhiSo they began to build an iron-clad which they thought could drive these wooden wasps away.
Stories of Our Naval Heroes | VariousThere were not twenty houses left standing, not a dozen houses in that wasps' nest.
Maupassant Original Short Stories (180), Complete | Guy de MaupassantThey filled the shells of gourds with hornets and wasps and placed them about the defences of their town.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 5 | Hubert Howe BancroftForth from the school-house door burst a dozen shouting lads, as wasps from the hole of their nest from a charge of powder.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete | George Meredith
British Dictionary definitions for wasp (1 of 2)
/ (wɒsp) /
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 Related adjective: vespine
any of various solitary hymenopterans, such as the digger wasp and gall wasp
Origin of wasp
1Derived forms of wasp
- wasplike, adjective
- waspy, adjective
- waspily, adverb
- waspiness, noun
British Dictionary definitions for Wasp (2 of 2)
WASP
/ (wɒsp) /
White 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
Derived forms of Wasp
- Waspy, adjective
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
Cultural definitions for WASP
An acronym for “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant” — a member of what many consider to be the most privileged and influential group in American society.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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