white ant

¹ American  

noun

1. termite.

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white-ant ² American  

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

verb (used with object)

Australian Informal.

1. to undermine or subvert from within.

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white ant British  

noun

1. another name for termite

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Etymology

Origin of white ant¹

First recorded in 1675–85

Origin of white-ant²

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Oddly enough, this tribal art owes much of its vitality to the wood-eating white ant of Africa.

From Time Magazine Archive

They also came upon a bank, in their course, in which was a nest belonging to a large species of white ant.

From On the Banks of the Amazon by Groome, William H. C.

The flabby, tallow-like body makes this insect sufficiently repulsive, but it is for quite another reason that the white ant is the worst abused of all living vermin in warm countries.

From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various

What strikes you at first about the white ant is that you never see it unless you lay its works open.

From From Edinburgh to India & Burmah by Burn Murdoch, W. G. (William Gordon)

They enter the infected house in large numbers, leaving a reserve force behind, and promptly destroy every white ant in the place.

From The Pearl of India by Ballou, Maturin Murray