ant

nounverbcommon in dialogue

United States//ænt//
/[ɛənt]/
/[eənt]/
/[ɛːnt]/

Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.

noun

1
Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […]. But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna. That would be the frozen chicatanas – giant winged ants – at around $500 a kilo.
2
A Web spider.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā Old English ǣmete Middle English ampte English ant From Middle English ampte, amte, amete, amote, ante, emete, emot, emotte, empt, empte, from Old English ǣmete, ǣmette, ǣmytte, ǣmætte (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (“ant”), of uncertain and debated origin (q.v.), but probably from Proto-Germanic *ē- (“off, away”) + *maitaną (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂y- (“to cut”). See also emmet. Cognates Cognate with Yola emotee, emothee (“ant”), West Frisian eamel, eamelder, eameler (“ant”), Alemannic German Ameisse (“ant”), Bavarian Åmasn, Åmeisn (“ant”), Cimbrian amasa (“ant”), Dutch emt (“ant”), German Ameise, Emse (“ant”), Low German Emk (“ant”), Vilamovian ömys (“ant”), Yiddish אַמייזע (ameyze, “ant”).

verb

1
To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
Wild birds tend to ant and sunbathe most frequently during periods of high humidity, particularly right after heavy or prolonged rainfall in summer.

Forms

plural: ants
past tense: anted
past participle: anted
present participle: anting
third person singular: ants

answer · A response or reply; something said or done in reaction to a…answered · Having an answer answering · The act of giving an answer.

ant · Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless…

Ant · A diminutive of the male given name Anthony, from Latin.Antarctic · Of, from, or pertaining to Antarctica and the south polar…Antarctica · The southernmost continent, south of the Southern Ocean,…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.