hornet
pronunciation
How to pronounce hornet in British English:
UK [ˈhɔ:nɪt]
How to pronounce hornet in American English:
US [ˈhɔrnɪt]
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- Noun:
- large stinging paper wasp
Word Origin
- hornet (n.)
- Old English hyrnet, hurnitu "large wasp, beetle," probably from Proto-Germanic *hurz-nut- (cognates: Old Saxon hornut, Middle Dutch huersel, Dutch horzel, Old High German hornaz, German Hornisse "hornet"), from PIE imitative (buzzing) root *krs-, as preserved in Old Church Slavonic srusa, Lithuanian szirszu "wasp." On this theory, the English word (as well as German Hornisse) was altered by influence of horn, to suggest either "horner" (from the sting) or "horn-blower" (from the buzz). Compare also Old Saxon hornobero "hornet," literally "trumpeter."
Example
- 1. A single hornet can kill 40 bees in a minute .
- 2. " Black hornet " : briten setzen mini-drohne in afghanistan ein
- 3. Immigration reform will stir up a hornet 's nest on the right , providing doubting conservatives with yet another reason for abandoning the president .
- 4. Who knows what the hornet follow-on will be , rubino adds ; " it could be an f-35 variant . "
- 5. The growler , which first saw action in iraq in 2010 and has been extensively ( though discreetly ) deployed during the nato air war against colonel qaddafi 's forces in libya , is a souped-up version of the super hornet .