Adjacent Words

potter wasp definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of various solitary wasps that construct vase-shaped cells of mud for their eggs

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Wasp Wasp, n. [OE. waspe, AS. w[ae]ps, w[ae]fs; akin to D. wesp, G. wespe, OHG. wafsa, wefsa, Lith. vapsa gadfly, Russ. osa wasp, L. vespa, and perhaps to E. weave.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of stinging hymenopterous insects, esp. any of the numerous species of the genus Vespa, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called yellow jackets. Note: The social wasps make a complex series of combs, of a substance like stiff paper, often of large size, and protect them by a paperlike covering. The larv[ae] are reared in the cells of the combs, and eat insects and insect larv[ae] brought to them by the adults, but the latter feed mainly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and on the sweet juices of fruit. See Illust. in Appendix. Digger wasp, any one of numerous species of solitary wasps that make their nests in burrows which they dig in the ground, as the sand wasps. See Sand wasp, under Sand. Mud wasp. See under Mud. Potter wasp. See under Potter. Wasp fly, a species of fly resembling a wasp, but without a sting.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Potter Pot"ter, n. [Cf. F. potier.] 1. One whose occupation is to make earthen vessels. --Ps. ii. 9. The potter heard, and stopped his wheel. --Longfellow. 2. One who hawks crockery or earthenware. [Prov. Eng.] --De Quincey. 3. One who pots meats or other eatables. 4. (Zo["o]l.) The red-bellied terrapin. See Terrapin. Potter's asthma (Med.), emphysema of the lungs; -- so called because very prevalent among potters. --Parkers. Potter's clay. See under Clay. Potter's field, a public burial place, especially in a city, for paupers, unknown persons, and criminals; -- so named from the field south of Jerusalem, mentioned in --Matt. xxvii. 7. Potter's ore. See Alquifou. Potter's wheel, a horizontal revolving disk on which the clay is molded into form with the hands or tools. ``My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel.'' --Shak. Potter wasp (Zo["o]l.), a small solitary wasp (Eumenes fraternal) which constructs a globular nest of mud and sand in which it deposits insect larv[ae], such as cankerworms, as food for its young.