Related Searches
on Ask.com
wasp
14 dictionary results for: wasp
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
wasp 
[wosp] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[wosp] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | any of numerous social or solitary hymenopterous insects of the Vespidae, Sphecidae, and allied families, generally having a long, slender body and narrow waist and, in the female, a stinger. |
| 2. | a person who is snappish or petulant. |
[Origin: bef. 900; ME waspe, OE wæsp, metathetic var. of wæps, itself var. of wæfs, akin to D wesp, G Wespe, L vespa]
] —Related forms
wasplike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
WASP
[wosp] Pronunciation Key Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.
[wosp] Pronunciation Key Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. –noun
–adjective
| 1. | a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. |
| 2. | a member of the privileged, established white upper middle class in the U.S. |
| 3. | Waspy. |
Also, Wasp.
[Origin: 1955–60]
]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
WASP
[wosp] Pronunciation Key
[wosp] Pronunciation Key –noun
| a member of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots, an organization disbanded in 1944. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| wasp
(wŏsp, wôsp) Pronunciation Key
n. Any of numerous social or solitary insects, chiefly of the superfamilies Vespoidea and Sphecoidea, having a slender body with a constricted abdomen, two pairs of membranous wings, mouths adapted for biting or sucking, and in the females an ovipositor often modified as a sting. [Middle English waspe, from Old English wæps, wæsp.] wasp'y adj. |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| WASP 1 or Wasp
(wŏsp, wôsp) Pronunciation Key
n.
[W(hite) A(nglo-)S(axon) P(rotestant).] WASP'i·ness, WASP'ish·ness n., WASP'y, WASP'ish adj. |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| WASP 2 or Wasp
(wäsp) Pronunciation Key
n. A member of Women's Airforce Service Pilots, organized during World War II as part of the U.S. Army Air Forces to ferry aircraft and to test new aircraft. The organization was disbanded in 1944. [From W(omen's) A(irforce) S(ervice) P(ilots).] |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| WASP 3
abbr. Women's Airforce Service Pilots |
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
wasp
wasp
O.E. wæps, wæsp, altered (probably by influence of L. vespa) from W.Gmc. *wabis- (cf. O.S. waspa, M.Du. wespe, Du. wesp, O.H.G. wafsa, Ger. Wespe, Dan. hveps), from PIE *wobhes-/*wops- (cf. L. vespa, Lith. vapsa, O.C.S. vosa "wasp," O.Ir. foich "drone"), perhaps from *webh- "weave" (cf. Gk. hyphos "web," O.E. webb "web," O.N. vefa "to weave"). If that is the correct derivation, the insect would be so called for the shape of its nest. Waspish in the sense of "irascible, spiteful" is attested from 1566. Wasp-waist is recorded from 1870.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
WASP
WASP
acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, 1962, said to have been coined by University of Pennsylvania sociologist E. Digby Baltzell, but first recorded reference is in an article by E.B. Palmore in "American Journal of Sociology."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| wasp | |
noun | |
| 1. | a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination |
| 2. | social or solitary hymenopterans typically having a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk and having a formidable sting |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
WASP
WASP
An acronym for “white Anglo-Saxon Protestant” — a member of what many consider to be the most privileged and influential group in American society.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Wasp
Wasp\, n. [OE. waspe, AS. w[ae]ps, w[ae]fs; akin to D. wesp, G. wespe, OHG. wafsa, wefsa, Lith. vapsa gadfly, Russ. osa wasp, L. vespa, and perhaps to E. weave.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of stinging hymenopterous insects, esp. any of the numerous species of the genus Vespa, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called yellow jackets. Note: The social wasps make a complex series of combs, of a substance like stiff paper, often of large size, and protect them by a paperlike covering. The larv[ae] are reared in the cells of the combs, and eat insects and insect larv[ae] brought to them by the adults, but the latter feed mainly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and on the sweet juices of fruit. See Illust. in Appendix. Digger wasp, any one of numerous species of solitary wasps that make their nests in burrows which they dig in the ground, as the sand wasps. See Sand wasp, under Sand. Mud wasp. See under Mud. Potter wasp. See under Potter. Wasp fly, a species of fly resembling a wasp, but without a sting.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
| Wasp White Anglo-Saxon Protestant |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
| WASP World Association for Social Psychiatry |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Share This:
Copyright © 2008, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.