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noun
Idioms 1.
any of numerous black, red, brown, or yellow social insects of the family Formicidae, of worldwide distribution especially in warm climates, having a large head with inner jaws for chewing and outer jaws for carrying and digging, and living in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers, a winged queen, and, during breeding seasons, winged males, some species being noted for engaging in warfare, slavemaking, or the cultivation of food sources.
2.
have ants in one's pants, Slang. to be impatient or eager to act or speak.
00:10
Ant
is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
ant-
-ant
a suffix forming adjectives and nouns from verbs, occurring originally in French and Latin loanwords ( pleasant; constant; servant ) and productive in English on this model; -ant, has the general sense “characterized by or serving in the capacity of” that named by the stem ( ascendant; pretendant ), especially in the formation of nouns denoting human agents in legal actions or other formal procedures ( tenant; defendant; applicant; contestant ). In technical and commercial coinages, -ant, is a suffix of nouns denoting impersonal physical agents ( propellant; lubricant; deodorant ). In general, -ant, can be added only to bases of Latin origin, with a very few exceptions, as coolant.
Ant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To ant
Collins
World English Dictionary
ant (ænt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | army ant fire ant slave ant See also wood ant 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 matingRelated: formic |
| 2. | white ant another name for a termite |
| 3. | slang have ants in one's pants to be restless or impatient |
| Related: formic | |
| [Old English ǣmette; related to Old High German āmeiza, Old Norse meita; see | |
| ant- | |
| —prefix | |
| a variant of anti- : antacid | |
| -ant | |
| —suffix forming adjectives, —suffix forming nouns | |
| causing or performing an action or existing in a certain condition; the agent that performs an action: pleasant; claimant; deodorant; protestant; servant | |
| [from Latin -ant-, ending of present participles of the first conjugation] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
ant
O.E. æmette, from W.Gmc. *amaitjo (cf. O.H.G. ameiza, Ger. Ameise) from a compound of bases *ai- "off, away" + *mait- "cut." Thus the insect's name is "the biter off." Emmet survived into 20c. as an alternative form. White ant "termite" is from 1729. To have ants in one's pants "be nervous and
fidgety" is from 1939; antsy "agitated, impatient" (1838) embodies the same notion.
"As þycke as ameten crepeþ in an amete hulle" [chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, 1297]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
ant- pref.
Variant of anti-.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
ANT
|
ant.
|
| Ant. Antarctica |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Ant definition
(Heb. nemalah, from a word meaning to creep, cut off, destroy), referred to in Prov. 6:6; 30:25, as distinguished for its prudent habits. Many ants in Palestine feed on animal substances, but others draw their nourishment partly or exclusively from vegetables. To the latter class belongs the ant to which Solomon refers. This ant gathers the seeds in the season of ripening, and stores them for future use; a habit that has been observed in ants in Texas, India, and Italy.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences
Lemon ant trees occupied by other ant species, or by no ants, always had other plants growing nearby.
The ant then drags her booty home to a nest in the rain forest leaf litter composed of only a dozen or so workers and their queen.
She regularly encountered groups of four or five chimps pushing sticks into underground ant nests.
In the last stage, the ant directed its glide toward the tree.
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