hornet
/ˈhɔːnɪt
/noun
A large, fairly docile wasp which is typically red and yellow or red and black and usually nests in hollow trees.
- Vespa and other genera, family Vespidae: several species, including the European V. crabro.
- The insects most likely to cause allergic reactions are wasps, honeybees, hornets, yellow jackets and ants.
- South African paper wasps, or hornets as they are also called, are often encountered underneath overhangs such as the eaves of roofs but do not form very big groups.
Phrases
a hornets' nest
Origin
Old English hyrnet, of Germanic origin; related to German Hornisse. The form of the word was probably influenced by Middle Dutch and Middle Low German hornte.
Rhymes
- unreconciled
- unreconciliable
- unreconnoitered
- unreconnoitred
- unreconstituted
- unreconstructed
- unrecordable
- unrecorded
- unrecording
- unrecounted
- unrecoverable
- unrecoverably
- unrecovered
- unrecruitable
- unrecruited
- unrectifiable
- unrectified
- unrecuperable
- unrecyclable
- unred
- Frenched
- French English
- French Equatorial Africa
- Frencher
- Frenchery