ant

an insect: No one invited an ant to this picnic.

Not to be confused with:

aunt – a female relative: I invited my aunt to the wedding.

ant

(ănt)

Any of numerous hymenopteran insects of the family Formicidae, characteristically having wings only in the males and fertile females and living in colonies that have a complex social organization.

Idiom:

ants in (one's) pants Slang

A state of restless impatience.

[Middle English amte, from Old English ǣmete.]

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.

ant

(ænt)

1. (Animals) any small social insect of the widely distributed hymenopterous family Formicidae, typically living in highly organized colonies of winged males, wingless sterile females (workers), and fertile females (queens), which are winged until after mating. See also army ant, fire ant, slave ant, wood ant

2. (Animals) white ant another name for a termite

3. have ants in one's pants slang to be restless or impatient

[Old English ǣmette; related to Old High German āmeiza, Old Norse meita; see emmet]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ant

(ænt)

n.

any of numerous hymenopterous insects of the widespread family Formicidae, that live in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers of various castes, a winged queen, and during the breeding season winged males.

Idioms:

have ants in one's pants, Slang. to be impatient or eager to act.

[before 1000; Old English ǣmette, c. Middle Low German āmete, ēm(e)te, Old High German āmeiza (ā- a-³ + a n. derivative of meizan to beat, cut). compare emmet, mite¹]

ant-

var. of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic.

-ant

a suffix joined to verbs, with the general sense “performing” or “a person or thing that performs” the action denoted by the verb; often in nouns denoting participants in a formalized activity (applicant; contestant; defendant) or denoting substances that bring about a desired result (coolant; deodorant; lubricant). See also -ent.

[< Latin -ant-, present participle s. of verbs in -āre; in many words < French -ant < Latin -ant-]

ant.

1. antenna.

2. antonym.

Ant.

Antarctica.

ant

(ănt)

Any of various insects that live in large colonies composed of workers, soldiers, and a queen. Ants often tunnel in the ground or in wood. Only the males and the queen have wings. See also queen, soldier, worker.

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.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

ant - social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workers

emmet, pismire

hymenopter, hymenopteran, hymenopteron, hymenopterous insect - insects having two pairs of membranous wings and an ovipositor specialized for stinging or piercing

family Formicidae, Formicidae - ants

Monomorium pharaonis, pharaoh ant, pharaoh's ant - small red ant of warm regions; a common household pest

little black ant, Monomorium minimum - tiny glossy black ant; nests outdoors but invades houses for food

army ant, driver ant, legionary ant - tropical nomadic ant that preys mainly on other insects

carpenter ant - ant that nests in decaying wood in which it bores tunnels for depositing eggs

fire ant - omnivorous ant of tropical and subtropical America that can inflict a painful sting

Formica rufa, wood ant - reddish-brown European ant typically living in anthills in woodlands

slave ant - any of various ants captured as larvae and enslaved by another species

slave-maker, slave-making ant - an ant that attacks colonies of other ant species and carries off the young to be reared as slave ants

bulldog ant - any of the large fierce Australian ants of the genus Myrmecia

ant

noun

Related words
adjective formic
habitation ant hill, formicary

Ants, bees, and wasps

Amazon ant, ant or (archaic or dialect) emmet, army ant or legionary ant, bee, bulldog ant or bull ant, bumblebee or humblebee, carpenter bee, cuckoo bee, digger wasp, driver ant, gall wasp, honeybee or hive bee, horntail or wood wasp, ichneumon fly or ichneumon wasp, killer bee, leafcutter ant, leafcutter bee, mason bee, mason wasp, mining bee, mud dauber, Pharaoh ant, ruby-tail wasp, sand wasp, slave ant, spider-hunting wasp, termite or white ant, velvet ant, wasp, wood ant, yellow jacket (U.S. & Canad.)

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

نـَمْلةنَمْلَه

мравка

mravenec

myre

Ameise

μυρμήγκι μερμήγκι

formiko

hormiga

sipelgas

مورچه

muurahainen

fourmi

mrav

hangya

semut

maur

formica

アリ

개미

formica

skruzdėdaskruzdėlėskruzdėlynas

skudra

furnică

mravec

mravlja

myra

มด

karınca

мурашка

con kiếnkiến

蚂蚁

ant

[ænt] N → hormiga f
to have ants in one's pants → tener avispas en el culo

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

ant

[ˈænt] n → fourmi f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

ant

n → Ameise f; to have ants in one’s pants (inf) → Hummeln im Hintern haben (inf), → kein Sitzfleisch haben

ant

ant bear

n (Zool) → Ameisenbär m

ant bird, ant catcher

n (Zool) → Ameisenvogel m

ant colony

n → Ameisenstaat m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ant

[ænt] n → formica

ant

(ӕnt) noun

a type of small insect, related to bees, wasps etc, thought of as hard-working.

ˈant-eater noun

any of several toothless animals with long snouts, that feed on ants.

ˈant-hill noun

a mound of earth built as a nest by ants.

ant

→ نـَمْلة mravenec myre Ameise μυρμήγκι hormiga muurahainen fourmi mrav formica アリ 개미 mier maur mrówka formiga муравей myra มด karınca con kiến 蚂蚁

ant

n. hormiga.

ant

n hormiga

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

This ant is absolutely dependent on its slaves; without their aid, the species would certainly become extinct in a single year.

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Now and then, while we rested, we watched the laborious ant at his work.

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AN ANT went to the bank of a river to quench its thirst, and being carried away by the rush of the stream, was on the point of drowning.

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"She has a palace!" said the ant. "The finest ant's palace, with seven hundred passages!"

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Thornbury, "if an ant did get between the vest and the skin."

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Holding a microscope to the first-mentioned red ant, I saw that, though he was assiduously gnawing at the near fore leg of his enemy, having severed his remaining feeler, his own breast was all torn away, exposing what vitals he had there to the jaws of the black warrior, whose breastplate was apparently too thick for him to pierce; and the dark carbuncles of the sufferer's eyes shone with ferocity such as war only could excite.

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(Ant. 1) Hovering around our city walls he waits, His spearmen raven at our seven gates.

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(Ant.) Not to be born at all Is best, far best that can befall, Next best, when born, with least delay To trace the backward way.

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These words so alarmed Mombi that she quickly transformed herself from a shadow to a Black Ant, in which shape she crawled along the ground, seeking a crack or crevice in which to hide her tiny body.

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[5] I was interested by finding here the hollow conical pitfall of the lion-ant, or some other insect; first a fly fell down the treacherous slope and immediately disappeared; then came a large but unwary ant; its struggles to escape being very violent, those curious little jets of sand, described by Kirby and Spence

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(Ant. 1) For he of marksmen best, O Zeus, outshot the rest, And won the prize supreme of wealth and power.

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Who knows, perhaps he only loves that edifice from a distance, and is by no means in love with it at close quarters; perhaps he only loves building it and does not want to live in it, but will leave it, when completed, for the use of les animaux domestiques--such as the ants, the sheep, and so on.

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