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ant

ant

308 1.0
A small insect that lives in large groups and works together
  • noun
  • /ænt/
translation icon : hormiga
  • Another valued service rendered to ant plants by their ants is defense against herbivores.
  • an ant colony
  • ants eat
  • food for ants

So how does the Ant then know what to do?

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Examples

  • OK, first let's try to capture one of the harvester ants, OK?

  • "I was just going to say, no ant is going to make a hole like that."

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Jerry, I'm sitting here with an ant problem.

  • So for example, we had a full Ant infestation in our kitchen.

  • In each case, benefits accrue to both ants and plants when they live together.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Oh my God, there's an Ant nest in the beam.

  • And then they swarm out like ants on a disturbed Ant hill.

  • The gardener was happy to see the ants working together to build their colony.

  • During the picnic, we noticed ants crawling on the picnic blanket, looking for crumbs.

  • He carefully observed the ants as they marched in a line, each carrying a piece of food.

Synonyms

emmet
vsant
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An old word for an ant that lives in large groups

is the regular modern term rather than an archaic name
pismire
vsant
  • Archaic
9.9

A small ant often mentioned in old poems and stories

is the common everyday term rather than older or literary usage

Idioms

A small action that does almost nothing to change a big problem

Compounds

8 3.6

A small reddish-brown insect that stings and causes a burning pain

A large ant that lives in holes it makes in rotten wood and lays eggs there

driver ant
  • South African
1 9.1

A large tropical ant that moves in long lines and hunts other insects

army ant
  • Specialized
1 6.4

A tropical ant that moves in large groups and hunts other insects

1 5.5

Reddish-brown ant that builds large anthills in forests

bulldog ant
  • Australian
9.9

A large aggressive Australian ant with a strong sting and large jaws

8.2

A mammal in Africa that is active at night and digs burrows to eat termites

8.5

A large hairy South American mammal with a long tongue and strong claws for eating ants

9.9

A South American bird with dull feathers that follows army ant swarms to catch insects

ant lion
  • Specialized
9.0

A young insect that makes a small sand pit to catch ants

ant cow
  • Specialized
9.9

A small insect that makes sweet drops for ants and ants protect it

ant thrush
  • Specialized
9.9

A bird from Central and South American forests that follows army ants to eat insects

ant shrike
  • Specialized
9.9

A tropical American bird that looks like a shrike and eats insects

Amazon ant
  • Specialized
9.8

A small reddish ant that raids other ant nests and uses captured workers for all tasks

legionary ant
  • Specialized
9.3

A tropical ant that moves in large swarms to hunt other insects

A very small shiny black insect that lives in groups and often comes into houses for food

pharaoh ant
  • Specialized
8.4

A small yellowish-red ant that often lives in houses and is hard to get rid of

pharaoh's ant
  • Specialized
7.9

A small yellow or red ant that lives in houses in warm places and is hard to get rid of

An ant that raids other nests to steal young ants and make them work

slave-making ant
  • Specialized
9.9

An ant that attacks other ant nests and takes their young to raise as workers in its own nest

slave ant
  • Specialized
9.9

An ant that another species takes as a baby and raises to work in its nest

A solitary wasp with soft bright hair and wingless females

white ant
  • Archaic
6.3

A small pale insect that eats wood and lives in groups

How Small

cockroach
140 1.0
beetle
95 1.0
ant
308 1.0
flea
202 1.0
mite
27 6.3

Surface Forms

ant singular
ants plural

Etymology

Ant comes from an old German word for the small insect, and an older English dialect form was emmet. Because people long noticed these tiny, busy 'workers' living together, ant still means a small, hardworking insect that lives in groups.