white ant

noun

termite.

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Origin of white ant

First recorded in 1675–85

Words nearby white ant

whiteacre, white admiral, white alder, white alert, white alkali, white ant, white area, white as a sheet, white ash, White Australia policy, white bacon

Definition for white ant (2 of 2)

white-ant
[ hwahyt-ant, wahyt- ]
/ ˈʰwaɪtˌænt, ˈwaɪt- /

verb (used with object) Australian Informal.

to undermine or subvert from within.

Origin of white-ant

First recorded in 1915–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for white ant

  • This stopped him, and Goubasee and myself found him sitting up like a dog, close to a white-ant hill.

    Sport in Abyssinia|Dermot Mayo

  • In the same spirit his companions speak of their white-ant existence without a shade of complaint.

    War|Pierre Loti

  • The white-ant hills here rise like castle-towers above the water of the marshes.

    Some Heroes of Travel|W. H. Davenport Adams

  • In this the animals were surrounded and forced to pass before a white-ant hill on which Burt was posted with the camera.

    The Blind Lion of the Congo|Elliott Whitney

British Dictionary definitions for white ant

white ant

noun

another name for termite
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