ant
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: biology
natural-sciences
ornithology
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā
Old English ǣmete
Middle English ampte
English ant
From Middle English ampte, amte, emete, amete, from Old English ǣmete (“ant”), from Proto-West Germanic *āmaitijā (literally “biting-thing, cutter”), 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”). Cognate with Scots emmot (“ant”), dialectal Dutch emt, empt (“ant”), German Ameise and Emse (“ant”). See also emmet.
Inflected forms:
form: ants
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: ante
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: ampte
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: ants
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: anting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: anted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: anted
pos: verb
tags: past
form: ante
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: ampte
pos: verb
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females.
pos: noun
examples: 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.
gloss: A Web spider.
pos: noun
tags: Internet
gloss: To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers.
pos: verb
examples: Wild birds tend to ant and sunbathe most frequently during periods of high humidity, particularly right after heavy or prolonged rainfall in summer.
Related words: ant-
-ant
army
colony
nest
Derived words: acrobat ant
agricultural ant
Allegheny mound ant
Amazon ant
ant bear
ant-bear
antbear
ant-bed
antbed parrot
antbed parrot moth
ant beetle
antbird
ant-blue
ant cap
ant cattle
ant colony
ant cow
ant cricket
antdom
anteater
ant-eater
anteating
ant egg
anternet
ant farm
antheap
ant-heap
anthill
ant-hill
ant hill
anthole
anthood
anticide
anting
antish
antkind
antless
antlet
antlike
antling
antlion
ant lion
antly
ant mill
ant mimicry
ant mound
ant nest beetle
ant orchid
antpecker
Antperson
antpipit
antpitta
ant-plant
ant plant
antproof
ant rattan
ant rice
ant sand
antshrike
ants in one's pants
ant's pants
ant spider
antsy
ant-tanager
ant tanager
ant thrush
antthrush
ant tree
antvireo
antwren
anty
Argentine ant
armadillo ant
banded sugar ant
bigheaded ant
black ant
black imported fire ant
blood-red ant
blue ant
blue pony ant
bullet ant
cocktail ant
coconut ant
crazy ant
driver ant
duck ant
Florida carpenter ant
fungus-growing ant
ghost ant
gliding ant
green ant
green-tree ant
green tree ant
harvester ant
Hercules ant
honey ant
honey pot ant
honeypot ant
horse ant
jet ant
Langton's ant
leaf-cutter ant
leaf-cutting ant
legionary ant
lemon ant
lion ant
little black ant
Malaysian exploding ant
meat ant
mound ant
negro ant
odorous house ant
panda ant
parasol ant
pavement ant
pissant
piss-ant
rainbow ant
red imported fire ant
safari ant
sanguinary ant
skull-collecting ant
slave ant
slave-making ant
stink ant
sugar ant
suicide ant
throw an ant into a sty
tramp ant
trap jaw ant
trap-jaw ant
trapjaw ant
turf ant
turtle ant
umbrella ant
Valentine ant
velvet ant
visiting ant
warrior ant
weaver ant
white ant
white-ant
yellow crazy ant
yellow hill ant
yellow meadow ant
Translations: