wasp Hear it!

wasp definition

wasp (wäsp, wôsp)

noun

any of various families of winged hymenopteran insects, characterized by a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk, biting mouthparts, and, in the females and workers, a vicious sting that can be used repeatedly: some wasps, as the hornet, are characterized by a colonial or social organization

Etymology: ME waspe < OE wæsp, akin to Ger wespe < Gmc base *waps- < IE *wobhsā < base *webh-, to weave (in reference to the cocoonlike nest)

WASP definition

☆ WASP or Wasp (wäsp, wôsp)

noun

a person who belongs to or is thought of as being part of a white, upper middle-class, northern European, Protestant group that dominates economic, political, and cultural activity in the U.S.: a term often used with mild derision

Etymology: W(hite) A(nglo-)S(axon) P(rotestant)

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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