wasp

(redirected from Wasps)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia.
Related to Wasps: paper wasps, Red wasps

WASP 1

or Wasp  (wŏsp, wôsp)
n.
A white person of Protestant English or other Northern European ancestry, especially one belonging to the American upper class.

[W(hite) A(nglo-)S(axon) P(rotestant).]

WASP′y adj.

WASP 2

or Wasp  (wäsp)
n.
A member of Women's Airforce Service Pilots, organized during World War II as part of the US Army Air Forces to ferry aircraft and to test new aircraft. The organization was disbanded in 1944.

[From W(omen's) A(irforce) S(ervice) P(ilots).]

wasp

 (wŏsp, wôsp)
n.
Any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterans of the suborder Apocrita, especially of the family Vespidae, that characteristically have a slender hairless body with a constricted abdomen, two pairs of membranous wings, a mouth adapted for biting or sucking, and in the females an ovipositor sometimes modified as a sting.

[Middle English waspe, from Old English wæps, wæsp.]

wasp′y adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wasp

(wɒsp)
n
1. (Animals) 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
2. (Animals) any of various solitary hymenopterans, such as the digger wasp and gall wasp
[Old English wæsp; related to Old Saxon waspa, Old High German wefsa, Latin vespa]
ˈwaspˌlike adj
ˈwaspy adj
ˈwaspily adv
ˈwaspiness n

Wasp

(wɒsp) or

WASP

(in the US) n acronym for
(Sociology) 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
ˈWaspy adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

wasp

(wɒsp)

n.
any of numerous winged hymenopterous insects with a slender body and a narrow stalk between the abdomen and thorax, the female having a harsh stinger that can strike repeatedly.
[before 900; Middle English waspe, Old English wæsp, metathetic variant of wæps, itself variant of wæfs, akin to Old Saxon wespa, wepsia, Old High German wafsa, Latin vespa]
wasp′like`, adj.

WASP

or Wasp

(wɒsp)
n.
1. a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant.
2. a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S.
adj.
3. Waspy.
[1955–60]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

wasp

(wŏsp)
Any of numerous insects having two pairs of wings, mouths adapted for biting or sucking, and in the females an egg-laying tube (called an ovipositor) that is often modified as a sting. Wasps are related to ants and bees and can be solitary or live in colonies.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wasp

- The insect traces back to an Indo-European root meaning "weave."
See also related terms for weave.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.WASP - a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination
Caucasian, White, White person - a member of the Caucasoid race
Protestant - an adherent of Protestantism
2.wasp - social or solitary hymenopterans typically having a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk and having a formidable sting
hymenopter, hymenopteran, hymenopteron, hymenopterous insect - insects having two pairs of membranous wings and an ovipositor specialized for stinging or piercing
vespid, vespid wasp - mostly social nest-building wasps
velvet ant - a solitary wasp of the family Mutillidae; the body has a coat of brightly colored velvety hair and the females are wingless
sphecoid, sphecoid wasp - any of various solitary wasps
cynipid gall wasp, cynipid wasp, gall wasp, gallfly - small solitary wasp that produces galls on oaks and other plants
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

wasp

noun
Related words
adjective vespine
habitation vespiary, bike
see ants, bees, and wasps
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
دَبُّورزُنْبور
оса
vosa
hvepshvid angelsaksisk protestant
vespo
ampiainen
osa
darázs
vespa, geitungur
スズメバチ
말벌
vespa
kandumasvapsva
anglosakšu izcelsmes amerikānislapsene
viespe
osa
osa
geting
ตัวแตน ตัวต่อ
eşek arısıeşekarısıyaban arısızengin ve muhafazakâr Protestan Amerika
ong bắp cày

wasp

[wɒsp]
A. Navispa f
wasps' nest (also fig) → avispero m
B. CPD wasp waist N (fig) → talle m de avispa
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Wasp

WASP [ˈwɒsp] n abbr (US) (=White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) → wasp mf

wasp

[ˈwɒsp] nguêpe f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

WASP

Wasp n abbr (Am) =White Anglo-Saxon ProtestantW.A.S.P. m =bianco protestante anglosassone

wasp

[wɒsp] nvespa
wasp's nest → nido di vespe
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

wasp

(wosp) noun
a type of winged insect having a sting and a slender waist.

WASP

(wosp) noun (abbreviation)
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant; a term used critically (often by minority groups) to refer to the members of the privileged upper middle class in the USA.
Waspish adjective
a Waspish neighborhood.
ˈwaspish adjective
(of a person) unpleasant in manner, temper etc. a nasty, waspish young woman.
ˈwaspishly adverb
ˈwaspishness noun
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

wasp

دَبُّور vosa hveps Wespe σφήκα avispa ampiainen guêpe osa vespa スズメバチ 말벌 wesp veps osa vespa оса geting ตัวแตน ตัวต่อ eşekarısı ong bắp cày 黄蜂
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

wasp

n. avispa;
___ stingpicadura de ___.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

wasp

n avispa
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
Last night I went with Judy to water the cows and in the spruce bush we found a WASPS' NEST and Judy thought it was AN OLD ONE and she POKED IT WITH A STICK.
So, setting about it as methodically as men might smoke out a wasps' nest, the Martians spread this strange stifling vapour over the Londonward country.
Drones, bumblebees, wasps, and butterflies knock awkwardly against the walls of the hive in their flight.
I love to "sit at ease and look down upon the wasps' nest beneath;" to listen to the dull murmur of the human tide ebbing and flowing ceaselessly through the narrow streets and lanes below.
"Let them be, my friend," said Don Quixote; "this insult is the penalty of my sin; and it is the righteous chastisement of heaven that jackals should devour a vanquished knight, and wasps sting him and pigs trample him under foot."
The wasps came by thousands to my lodge in October, as to winter quarters, and settled on my windows within and on the walls overhead, sometimes deterring visitors from entering.
Bob knew, directly he saw a bird's egg, whether it was a swallow's, or a tomtit's, or a yellow-hammer's; he found out all the wasps' nests, and could set all sort of traps; he could climb the trees like a squirrel, and had quite a magical power of detecting hedgehogs and stoats; and he had courage to do things that were rather naughty, such as making gaps in the hedgerows, throwing stones after the sheep, and killing a cat that was wandering incognito .
Rio de Janeiro -- Excursion north of Cape Frio -- Great Evaporation -- Slavery -- Botofogo Bay -- Terrestrial Planariae -- Clouds on the Corcovado -- Heavy Rain -- Musical Frogs -- Phosphorescent Insects -- Elater, springing powers of -- Blue Haze -- Noise made by a Butterfly -- Entomology -- Ants -- Wasp killing a Spider -- Parasitical Spider -- Artifices of an Epeira -- Gregarious Spider -- Spider with an unsymmetrical Web.
It had a great mouth, with a row of sharp teeth a foot long; but its head was joined to the pudgy body by a neck as slender as a wasp's waist.
A WASP seated himself upon the head of a Snake and, striking him unceasingly with his stings, wounded him to death.
Really, they'll sting us!" said Dolly, waving away a wasp.
The song was of a swarm of bees, and of a robber wasp who had come in to live with the bees and who was stealing all their honey.