Ant
[ænt]
Definition
(noun.) social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers.
Editor: Roxanne--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A hymenopterous insect of the Linnaean genus Formica, which is now made a family of several genera; an emmet; a pismire.
Typist: Trevor
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Pismire, emmet.
Checker: Newman
Definition
n. a small insect: the emmet or pismire.—ns. Ant′-bear one of the largest species of the ant-eaters found in the swampy regions in Central and Southern America also called the Great Ant-eater; Ant′-cow (see Aphides); Ant′-eat′er a genus of edentate South American quadrupeds feeding on insects and chiefly on ants which they procure by means of their very long cylindrical tongue covered with a viscid saliva; Ant′-hill the hillock raised by ants to form their nest: also figuratively applied as to the earth; Ant′-thrush a general name applied to birds of tropical and sub-tropical countries which feed to a large extent on ants.
Inputed by Harvey
Unserious Contents or Definition
The dreamer of ants should expect many petty annoyances during the day; chasing little worries, and finding general dissatisfaction in all things.
Checker: Valerie
Examples
- Huber to be a slave-making ant. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Certainly every time he came in contact with the industries--silk, wine, beer, wool--his scientific insight, Ant?us-like, seemed to revive. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- If we had not known of any other slave-making ant, it would have been hopeless to speculate how so wonderful an instinct could have been perfected. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Jeremiah never courted me; t'ant likely that he would, after living in the house with me and ordering me about for as many years as he'd done. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- This ant is absolutely dependent on its slaves; without their aid, the species would certainly become extinct in a single year. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Smith's offer of numerous specimens from the same nest of the driver ant (Anomma) of West Africa. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The subject well deserves to be discussed at great length, but I will here take only a single case, that of working or sterile ants. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Once in camp I put a log on top of the fire and it was full of ants. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- As it commenced to burn, the ants swarmed out and went first toward the centre where the fire was; then turned back and ran toward the end. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Ants, however, work by inherited instincts and by inherited organs or tools, while man works by acquired knowledge and manufactured instruments. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Although so small a species, it is very courageous, and I have seen it ferociously attack other ants. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- A few ants were in this desert place, but merely to spend the summer. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- She knew them in crowds passing to and from their nests, like ants or beetles. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
Edited by Katy