fire ant
nounDefinition of fire ant
: any of a genus (Solenopsis) of fiercely stinging omnivorous ants
especially
: imported fire ant
Examples of fire ant in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Do such storms allow invasive species like red fire ants to get an edge over native animals? — Megan Molteni, WIRED, "Colonies of Aggressive, Social Spiders Boom After a Hurricane," 19 Aug. 2019 In some materials, a trillion trillion electrons within a crystal can act as a unit, like fire ants clumping into a single mass to survive a flood. — Quanta Magazine, "Elusive Higgs-Like State Created in Exotic Materials," 28 Feb. 2018 Most stinging ants, such as the fire ant, will nest in the ground. — Howard Koplowitz | Hkoplowitz@al.com, al.com, "It’s Alabama’s stinging season: How to identify yellow jacket, hornet and bees’ nests," 1 July 2019 Ecosystems are being disrupted worldwide by invasive species, like the South American red fire ants that Wilson, as a budding entomologist at age 13, discovered nesting in Mobile, Alabama, in 1946. — National Geographic, "E.O. Wilson at 90: The conservation legend shares dreams for the future," 10 June 2019 Like fire ant rafts, bridges are built based on simple rules and possess surprising strength and flexibility. — Quanta Magazine, "The Remarkable Self-Organization of Ants," 9 Apr. 2014 In one of the region’s most bizarre lynchings, townspeople in western Bolivia tied up a woman and her two sons to a tree infested with poisonous fire ants on New Year’s Eve in 2016, mistaking the trio for car thieves. — Samantha Pearson, WSJ, "In Latin America, Awash in Crime, Citizens Impose Their Own Brutal Justice," 6 Dec. 2018 Those allergic to fire ant stings could have a serious reaction if stung. — Madeline Farber, Fox News, "Florence floodwaters result in 'islands' of floating fire ants," 19 Sep. 2018 The group first collected ten nests of fire ants over three summers and set up colonies of 30 ants each in the laboratory, housed in transparent containers filled with glass particles to simulate soil. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "We can learn the secrets of smooth traffic flow by watching fire ants," 20 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fire ant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for fire ant
fire ant
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of fire ant
: a type of ant that gives a very painful bite
See the full definition for fire ant in the English Language Learners Dictionary
fire ant
noun
\ -ˌant
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Medical Definition of fire ant
: any ant of the genus Solenopsis
especially
: imported fire ant