pis·mire (p s m r , pz-)n. An ant. [Middle English pissemyre : pisse, urine (from the smell of the formic acid that ants secrete); see piss + mire, ant (probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish myre).] |
pismire [ˈpɪsˌmaɪə]
n
(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) an archaic or dialect word for an ant
[C14 (literally: urinating ant, from the odour of formic acid characteristic of an ant hill): from piss + obsolete mire ant, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse maurr, Middle Low German mīre ant]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  pismire - social insect living in organized colonies; characteristically the males and fertile queen have wings during breeding season; wingless sterile females are the workershymenopter, 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 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 |
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