giant hornet
1
6.5
- noun
- /ˈdʒaɪənt ˈhɔrnɪt/
- The giant hornet is known for its aggressive behavior, especially when its nest is disturbed.
Examples
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Be careful not to provoke a giant hornet; its sting can be very painful.
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While hiking in the woods, we spotted a giant hornet building its nest high in a tree.
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Finished filming and I wonder if you can tell from that time lapse that a giant Hornet just casually swooped in.
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She even opined once that a giant hornet had flown into my apartment because it was attracted to the piles of papers and books on the living room floor.
Blog text (14)
Synonyms
22
4.1
A large wasp with a strong sting that lives in paper nests
1
8.3
A group of large wasps like hornets that can sting
A large hornet with yellow and brown marks from Europe and parts of Asia
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a very large hornet' is directly and compositionally derived from 'giant' (notably huge) + 'hornet' (a large wasp) with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift. This adjective + noun pattern is standard and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Giant hornet comes from a simple image of a very big hornet that is much larger than usual. People called the insect giant because of its size and strong sting, so giant hornet means 'a very large, dangerous hornet'.