waspn.1
/wɒsp/, U.S. /wɑsp/ 1. In popular language, any insect of the genus Vespa; chiefly applied to V. vulgaris, the Common Wasp, and such other species as are not readily distinguishable from this; sometimes taken to include the Hornet, V. crabro, which resembles the Common Wasp, but is larger and has a more powerful sting. The obvious characteristics of the genus are the alternate rings of black and yellow on the abdomen, the narrow stalk or petiole by which the abdomen is attached to the thorax, the fully developed wings, and the formidable sting (which, however, is peculiar to the females and the workers or imperfect females). In scientific language applied generally to two divisions of hymenopterous insects, the Diploptera or true wasps, and the Fossores or digger wasps.The true wasps (Diploptera) are divided into three families; (1) Vespidæ, to which the common wasp belongs; (2) Eumenidæ; and (3) Masaridæ.See also digger n. 4, paper n. and adj. Compounds 2, queen n. Compounds 2, sand n.2 Compounds 2b, social adj. 6b, solitary adj. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > a wasp
waspc725
waspya1529
yellow jacket1796
jasper1967
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > [noun] > irascible person
wasp1496
shit-fire1598
flesh-pistol1608
tinder-box1608
touchwood1617
Tartar1669
touch and go1675
spitfire1684
vengeance1712
spunkie1821
pepperbox1822
tempest1852
pepperer1864
gingersnap1889
pepperpot1894
spit-cat1898
spit kitten1912
slow burner1930
fireball1931
pop-off1938
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > ill will, malevolence > [noun] > person or thing displaying > petty
wasp1496
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps
wasp1893
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) C 902 Crabro: waefs vel hurnitu.
c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) F 136 Fespa, waefs.
c875 Erfurt Gloss. 255 C[r]abro: uaeps.
a1100 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 318/36 Uespa, weaps.
c1394 P. Pl. Crede 648 Þer is no waspe in þis werlde þat will wilfullok[e]r styngen, For stappyng on a too of a styncande frere!
1400–50 Wars Alex. 3011 Full many flees may fell, bot a fewe waspis.
a1450 Mirk's Festial 141 Out of hys naseþurles dropped wormys out lyke waspes.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 420 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 162 Þe waspis þat in his hewid ware, at his nese-thrillis flaw al owt.
1496 Cov. Leet Bk. 577 Where as they light, The been will byte, And also styng. Be-ware of wappys.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xxxviii And beware, that no waspes come into the hyue, for they woll kyll ye bees and eate the hony.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Dii Now mery as a cricket, and by and by, Angry as a waspe, though in bothe no cause why.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 239 God is not like a Waspe, which when she hath stung cannot sting again.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 148 I cannot maruell enough, how the nimble Bee should be ingendred of the sluggish Oxe, or the liuely waspe of the dead horse.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xii. 226 To take the Roch and Dace, a good bait is the young brood of Wasps or Bees, baked or hardned in their husks in an Oven. View more context for this quotation
1724 W. Derham in Philos. Trans. 1722–3 (Royal Soc.) 33 54 The Male Wasps are lesser than the Queens, but as much longer and larger than the Common Wasps, as the Queen is longer and larger than these.
1730 E. Young Two Epist. to Pope i. 5 As by depredations Wasps proclaim The fairest Fruit.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 341 The Common Wasp always forms its nest under the surface of the earth.
1847 A. Smith Christopher Tadpole (1848) xlix. 421 ‘Just as if we hadn't enough wapses,’ exclaimed the old lady... ‘No, my good Grittles—that's a hornet,—not a “waps” as you wrongly call it.’
1862 C. S. Calverley Verses & Transl. (ed. 2) 95 As females vanish at the sight Of shorthorns and of wopses.
1893 A. Lang Prince Ricardo of Pantouflia vii. 128 ‘Hang that wops!’ said Prince Ricardo..when it buzzed in his ear.
1905 H. G. Wells Kipps ii. iii. §3 ‘These old Roman chaps ——’ he said; and then the wasps arrived. They killed three in the jam alone.
1908 O. Seaman Wearing of Whisker in Salvage 82 Trained like the ampelopsis, That happy haunt of woolly bears and wopses.
1932 E. Step Bees, Wasps, Ants & Allied Insects 81 Wopses, what eat up all our fruit.
1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon xv. 308 Out comes me lord, and they wos all on to 'im like wopses round a jam-pot.
2. figurative.
a. Applied to persons characterized by irascibility and persistent petty malignity, esp. to a multitude of contemptible but irritating assailants.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > ill-will > person of ill-will > [noun] > and petty
wasp?a1513
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 206 Wan wraiglane wasp.
1560 Bp. J. Pilkington Aggeus the Prophete Pref. sig. A iij So..vnder our gracious late Iosias, crepte oute a swarm of romish waspes, stynging to death all who wold not worshyp theyr gods, nor beleue theyr doctrine.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) ii. i. 209 Come, come you Waspe, y'faith you are too angrie. View more context for this quotation
1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher King & No King iv. sig. I1v I will not heare you waspe.
a1660 Aphorismical Discov. in J. T. Gilbert Contemp. Hist. Ireland (1879) I. 169 The Frenche Agent..promised to joine with the Generall for a publicke redresse from those perfidious whaspes.
1721 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius No. 5. 23 I had no sooner undertaken this task, but I raised a nest of holy wasps and hornets about my ears.
1775 H. Walpole Let. to W. Cole 25 Apr. The reviewers and such litterati have called me a learned and ingenious gentleman... These wasps, I suppose, will be very angry at the just contempt Mr. Gray had for them.
1791 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 1st Ser. I. 97 Sallo, after having published only his third Journal, felt the irritated wasps of literature thronging so thick about him, that he very gladly abdicated the throne of Criticism.
1846 W. Cross Disruption xxxiii. 362 Mr. Bacon, ye ken, is in a pretty pickle wi' this wasp o' a body M'Corkle.
1910 Ld. Rosebery Chatham vii. 177 Glover was an ill-conditioned wasp, and his story refutes itself.
b. Something that irritates or offends one. †the wasp got him by the nose (Prov.): he was infuriated.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of annoyance or vexation > [noun] > cause of annoyance or vexation
thornc1230
dreicha1275
painc1375
cumbrance1377
diseasec1386
a hair in one's necka1450
molestationc1460
incommodity?a1475
melancholya1475
ensoigne1477
annoyance1502
traik1513
incommode1518
corsie1548
eyesore1548
fashery1558
cross1573
spite1577
corrosive1578
wasp1588
cumber1589
infliction1590
gall1591
distaste1602
plague1604
rub1642
disaccommodation1645
disgust1654
annoyment1659
bogle1663
rubber1699
noyancea1715
chagrins1716
ruffle1718
fasha1796
nuisance1814
vex1815
drag1857
bugbear1880
nark1918
pain in the neck (also arse, bum, etc.)1933
sod1940
chizz1953
1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 21 At the hearing of this speeche, the waspe got my brother by the nose, which mad him in his rage to affirme, that [etc.].
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. ii. 55.
1781 W. Cowper Truth 160 Of temper as envenom'd as an asp; Censorious, and her ev'ry word a wasp.
1845 D. Jerrold St. Giles (1851) iv. 34 That little head of his is full of wasps as July.
3. An artificial fly for salmon-fishing (made to imitate the appearance of a wasp). Cf. wasp-fly n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > salmon flies
salmon fly1704
kingfisher?1758
tartan1837
goldfinch1845
parr-tail1847
baker1848
butcher1860
Jock Scott1866
claret1867
colonel1867
king1867
major1867
Shannon fly1867
wasp1867
chimney-sweep1872
Jack Scott1874
hornet1876
winesop black1876
mystery1880
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling x. 312 Some of the Tay flies, particularly the Wasps dressed small, will kill well in the Tweed.
4. Conchology. A variety of cowry (see quot. 1815).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Siphonostomata > family Cypraeidae > member of (cowrie)
Venus-shell1589
Venus-winkle1601
wart-gowry?1711
nipple cowry1713
smallpox1759
cowrie1777
serpent's skull1795
Arabian cowrie1804
mouse1815
sea-louse1815
serpent's head1815
wasp1815
niggerhead1895
1815 S. Brookes Introd. Conchol. 157 Wasp, Cypræa Asellus.
5. (With capital initial.) A kind of flame-thrower developed by the British army during the war of 1939–45.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > fire, radiation, or chemical weapons > [noun] > flame-thrower
flame projector1915
flamethrower1915
flammenwerfer1915
flame machine1917
wasp1944
1944 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 12 Apr.–26 Sept. 467 Like that of the Crocodile, the range of the Wasp is upwards of 150 yards. Fitted to the standard bullet-proof carrier, it is a terrorising weapon.
1965 Listener 11 Nov. 763/3 There was this Bren gun carrier with the flame thrower, sir, a Wasp I believe they're called, and I thought it was my duty to see how it worked.
1975 Incendiary Weapons (Stockholm Internat. Peace Research Inst.) v. 38 British and Canadian engineers developed a lighter mechanized flamethrower, called the Ronson... This was the forerunner of the Wasp (Mark 1) flame gun of which 1000 were ordered and went into production in March 1943.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
wasp-comb n.
ΚΠ
1877 J. G. Wood Nature's Teachings 168 There is..one curious point of difference between the Wasp-comb and human architecture.
wasp-egg n.
ΚΠ
1870 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 6 327 It is..also a great deal smaller than the wasp-egg.
wasp-grub n.
ΚΠ
1678Wasp-grub [see wasp-maggot n.].
1760 J. Hawkins in Walton's & Cotton's Compl. Angler xi. 197 (note) There are no better Baits for this fish than..a Gentle, a young Wasp-grub boiled, or a green Worm.
1919 J. Masefield Reynard the Fox 61 Brocks eat wasp-grubs.
wasp-honey n.
ΚΠ
1904 Westm. Gaz. 4 July 2/3 Some wasp honey.
wasp-larva n.
ΚΠ
1870 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 6 314 Doubtless also their fellow inhabitants, described..as injured wasp-pupæ, were in reality the partially devoured wasp-larvæ.
wasp-maggot n.
ΚΠ
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. v. 72 (margin) Wasp-Maggots or Grubs.
1836 E. Jesse Angler's Rambles 197 The chub may be taken with..gentles, wasp-maggots, and black-snails.
wasp-pupa n.
ΚΠ
1870 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 6 314 Doubtless also their fellow inhabitants, described..as injured wasp-pupæ, were in reality the partially devoured wasp-larvæ.
wasp-sting n.
ΚΠ
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. viii. 157 Four Wasp Stings, like Joyners Tacks.
1822 W. Scott Halidon Hill i. ii. 56 A cobweb gossamer were guard as good Against a wasp-sting.
wasp-worm n.
ΚΠ
1804–6 S. Smith Elem. Sketches Moral Philos. (1850) xvii. 244 When the wasp-worm is hatched, it finds a store of provisions ready made; and..the quantity allotted to each is exactly sufficient to support it, till it attains the period of wasphood.
b.
wasp-barbed adj.
ΚΠ
1887 J. Ruskin Præterita II. x. 346 One of the worst, wasp-barbed, most tingling pangs of my memory is yet of a sunny afternoon at Pisa, when [etc.].
wasp-like adj.
ΚΠ
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 125 Wasp-like Fly Maggot.
1867 G. M. Musgrave Nooks & Corners Old France II. 209 Picturesque and coquette as ever their [mills] wasp-like waists were.
wasp-striped adj.
ΚΠ
1952 P. Atkey Juniper Rock x. 87 Wasp-striped..the helicopter reappeared.
1974 E. Ambler Dr. Frigo i. 49 A black butler in a wasp-striped waistcoat.
C2. Special combinations:† wasp-spade n. Obsolete a spade for digging out wasps' nests.† wasp-stung adj. Obsolete irritable (as if stung by a wasp).
wasp-bee n. a bee of the genus Nomada, a cuckoo-bee.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > member of family Anthophoridae
mason bee1774
cuckoo-bee1836
wasp-bee1844
1844 F. Smith in Zoologist 2 587 Descriptions of the British Wasp-Bees.
wasp-beetle n. a beetle of the genus Clytus, esp. C. arietis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Phytophaga or Chrysomeloidea > family Cerambycidae > member of genus Clytus (wasp-beetle)
wasp-beetle1704
1704 J. Petiver Gazophylacii III. 42 The Maryland Wasp Beetle.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 476 The common wasp beetle (Clytus arietis).
wasp-cake n. dialect the comb in a wasp's nest.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > nest > comb in
wasp-cake1907
1907 Westm. Gaz. 28 Aug. 10/1 Experienced anglers cannot recall a season in which wasp-cake is so difficult to obtain.
wasp-flower n. a flower frequented by honey-gathering wasps.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [noun] > pollination > involving particular type of agency > plant characterized by
bee-flower1618
wasp-flower1884
anemophile1900
ornithophile1961
1884 Cornhill Mag. Oct. 399 Wasp-flowers are remarkable for having a helmet-shaped tube, exactly fitted to a wasp's head, with abundant honey filling the bottom of the bell.
wasp-fly n. a syrphid fly somewhat resembling a hornet; also an artificial fly for fishing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > family Syrphidae > member of > resembling hornet
wasp-fly1676
1676 C. Cotton Compl. Angler viii. 77 We have likewise this month [July] a Wasp-flie, made..of a dark brown dubbing..ribb'd about with yellow silk.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. §vii. i. 156 The Wasp-Fly, Tabani species altera.
1854 M. Howitt Pict. Cal. Seasons 404 The buzz of a wasp-fly, when resting apparently motionless on the window.
1876 F. Francis Bk. Angling (ed. 4) xii. 448 The Wasp Fly.—Three mauve hackle fibres for tail [etc.].
wasp-paper n. the paper-like material, produced by mastication, of which wasps' nests are made.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > nest > paper-like material (for nests)
wasp-paper1899
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 83 These little habitations consist of masses of cells, wrapped in wasp-paper, in which there are one or more orifices for ingress and egress.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > spade > other spades
sap1566
didle1580
wasp-spade1623
trenching gouge1653
loy1763
hodding-spadea1825
graff1875
graft1893
1623 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) vii. sig. Q3 With a Wasp-spade, search for the Nest.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > irritability > irritable [adjective]
sharpc1000
impatient1377
out-sharpinga1382
teethya1500
fumish1523
testy1526
crabbed1535
tettish1567
peevish1577
kickish1589
splenetic1593
spleenful1594
tetchy1596
wasp-stung1598
touchy1602
spleeny1604
pruriginous1609
teety1621
splenitive1633
peltish1648
irritable1662
splenatic1663
splenetive1678
unheer1691
rusty1694
nettlesome1766
stingy1781
snarly1798
tutty1809
spleenical1818
rileya1824
nettly1825
edgy1837
porcupinal1846
shirty1846
raspish1854
peckish1857
streaky1860
owly1864
teasy1866
fussy1869
raspy1869
spiky1881
chippyc1885
tetchous1890
narky1895
snarky1906
ringy1907
snarkish1912
Scot1916
crooked1945
niggly1952
snooty1959
kvetchy1965
to be on the rag1967
sandpaper1976
gribble1984
splenous-
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. iii. 234 Why what a waspe-stung [later Quartos wasp(e)-tongue; Folios wasp(e)-tongu'd] and impatient foole Art thou? View more context for this quotation
wasp-waist n. a very slender waist, esp. the characteristic waist of a woman who laces tightly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > [noun] > middle of trunk or waist > types of
wasp-waist1870
span-waist1871
1870 Illustr. London News 24 Sept. 330 The fearful displacement of the vital organs which must be effected to procure a wasp-waist.
1905 Athenæum 18 Mar. 344/3 The cylinder..shows a person tightly cinctured, and with a wasp-waist, resembling the men on Mycenæan monuments.
wasp-wood n. dialect (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > nest > touchwood (for nests)
wasp-wood1887
1887 Notes & Queries 7th Ser. 3 421 Touchwood, or as it is sometimes called, wasp-wood, because wasps use it to make their nests.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Waspn.2
/wɒsp/, U.S. /wɑsp/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
A member of the American white Protestant middle or upper class descended from early European settlers in the U.S. Frequently derogatory. Also attributive or as adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of America > native or inhabitant of North America > native or inhabitant of U.S.A. > [noun] > by class or religion
Jewish American1775
Wasp1962
1962 E. B. Palmore in Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 67 442/2 For the sake of brevity we will use the nickname ‘Wasp’ for this group, from the initial letters of ‘White Anglo-Saxon Protestants’.
1963 Times 2 May 15/5 There is such a thing as a ‘Human Engineering Laboratory’; whether a man is a Wasp (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) can decide his career.
1963 New Statesman 10 May 716/2 This year's executive model will be over six feet tall, clean-shaven, lean, and with large fleshy ears... He should try to be or pretend to be a WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) and ought to have gone to an Ivy League college, preferably Princeton.
1964 E. D. Baltzell Protestant Establ. (1965) i. 9 I should first like to show how the aristocratic process still worked quite well in the case of the family of Abraham Lincoln, and especially how the WASP establishment authoritatively retained the leadership of American society in the generation of Robert Todd Lincoln.
1968 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Apr. 329/1 The Jew can choose to leave his ghetto by ‘passing’ or by breaking the more and more flimsy barriers put up by Wasp (and non-Wasp) anti-Semitism, but the Negro cannot.
1971 M. McCarthy Birds of Amer. 71 He was the only older WASP Peter knew.
1977 Time 19 Dec. 66/2 United States Secretary of State Felix John Vandenberg—slim, silver-haired, tallish, Wasp—speaks with ‘the lingering trace of a British accent, which had been acquired at Eton and Oxford’.
1978 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 126 276/1 Can what one calls a WASP properly and without any discrimination select an Asian?
1979 R. Jaffe Class Reunion (1980) i. i. 37 Daphne's father was the senior partner of the leading prestigious Wasp law firm in New York.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
waspv.
/wɒsp/, U.S. /wɑsp/ 1. transitive. To sting as a wasp does. nonce-word.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > affect with smart or sting
smarta1200
sting?1615
mordicate1651
punge1657
wasp1846
nettle1858
1846 W. S. Landor Emperor of China & Tsing-Ti in Wks. II. 137/1 That blow upon the cheek-bone! those rotten eggs!..surely they have wasped thee!
2. intransitive. Const. around, about. To dart about in the manner of a wasp, in an irritating, noisy, or tenacious fashion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move swiftly in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move swiftly and suddenly > about
skirmc1400
wincec1400
squib1762
spirt1856
wasp1967
1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway iii. 22 Most nights brought an intruder bumbling overhead with one of our fighters wasping around looking for him.
1981 B. Healey Week of Scorpion ii. 43 ‘It must be very unpleasant for her.’.. ‘No doubt... But have you conseedered how you'll make it any less so by having the police wasping about your own ears?’
1981 B. Freemantle Madrigal for Charlie Muffin (1982) xx. 152 Traffic wasped around the piazza.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
> as lemmas
WASP
WASP n. U.S. Women's Airforce Service Pilots.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > air force > [noun] > branches of
air arm1913
W.R.A.F1918
Fleet Air Arm1923
Bomber Command1939
WAAF1939
Coastal Command1940
Air Training Corps1941
Fighter Command1941
WASP1943
1943 Yank 24 Sept. 17 WASP, which stands for ‘Womens Air Force Service Pilots’ is the new official title of women pilots of the AAF.
<
n.1c725
n.21962
v.1846as lemmas