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hornet

hornet

31 4.1
A large wasp with a strong sting that lives in paper nests
  • noun
  • /ˈhɔrnɪt/
translation icon : avispón
  • I heard he's trained a swarm of hornets to attack on command.
  • hornet's nest

This is enough to cook the giant Hornet alive.

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Examples

  • I could get stung by a hornet down there, and I would not feel it.

  • The engines make a loud buzz like a swarm of angry hornets.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Being stung by a Hornet is the most shocking thing.

  • If you want to get rid of a hornet's nest, you can freeze it.

    Blog text (4)
  • We have stirred up a hornet's nest here.

  • And they are not hornets or yellow jacket wasps, which are sometimes mistakenly called bees.

    Academic text (1994)
  • "Wasps and hornets visit flowers and eat nectar, but they don't collect pollen."

    Academic text (1994)
  • The questions buzzed through his mind like angry hornets, intrusive and demanding, stingers poised.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • While hiking in the forest, I accidentally walked too close to a hornet nest and felt a sharp sting.

  • The gardener warned us to be careful, as there was a hornet nest hidden among the branches of the tree.

Synonyms

wasp
vshornet
45 1.0

A flying insect like a bee with a narrow waist and a sting, often yellow and black

is the larger paper-nest building type rather than any general stinging insect
Vespula maculata
vshornet
  • Specialized
9.9

A large black and white wasp often called the bald-faced hornet that makes big paper nests

is the broader large wasp type rather than this single species
bald-faced hornet
vshornet
  • US
8.2

A large black and white hornet in North America that builds paper nests in trees and defends them

is the general large wasp not especially known for aggressive defense
white-faced hornet
vshornet
  • US
8.7

A large black and white wasp with a pale face that can sting people and becomes aggressive when threatened

is the broad large wasp type rather than the especially defensive kind
giant hornet
vshornet
6.5

A very large insect like a wasp that stings and can be aggressive

is the general large wasp category, not the specifically huge species
Vespa
vshornet
  • Specialized
8.3

A group of large wasps like hornets that can sting

is the single large wasp type rather than this entire genus
vespid wasp
vshornet
  • Specialized
8.0

A social wasp that builds nests, like yellowjackets or hornets

is the specific large wasp form rather than any family member
vespid
vshornet
  • Specialized
9.9

A wasp like a yellowjacket or hornet that lives in a colony and builds paper nests

is one specific large wasp type rather than a family category
Vespidae
vshornet
  • Specialized
9.8

A group of wasps like hornets and yellow jackets

is a single large wasp type rather than this broad family
yellow hornet
vshornet
6.8

A small wasp with yellow marks that lives in nests in the ground

is the larger paper-nest building type rather than a small ground-nesting insect

Compounds

A large black and white hornet in North America that builds paper nests in trees and defends them

A very large insect like a wasp that stings and can be aggressive

A large black and white wasp with a pale face that can sting people and becomes aggressive when threatened

A small wasp with yellow marks that lives in nests in the ground

How Large

hornet
31 4.1
cicada killer
  • US
9.5
yellowjacket
  • US
1 4.6

Surface Forms

hornet singular
hornets plural

Morphology

hornet = horn (opaque) = horn + et

Although historically formed from 'horn' + diminutive '-et', the insect sense is not directly derivable by standard English morphological rules for most learners.

Etymology

Hornet comes from an old word for horn plus the small ending -et, so it originally meant 'small horn'. Think of the wasp's sharp sting like a horn, which helps explain why a hornet is a large wasp with a powerful sting.