The AI-powered English dictionary
plural ants
Any of various insects in the family Formicidae in the order Hymenoptera, typically living in large colonies composed almost entirely of flightless females. quotations examples
The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters […] . But the priciest items in the market aren't the armadillo steaks or even the bluefin tuna. That would be the frozen chicatanas – giant winged ants – at around $500 a kilo.
2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects […] ”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32
(Internet) A Web spider. examples
third-person singular simple present ants, present participle anting, simple past and past participle anted
(ornithology) To rub insects, especially ants, on one's body, perhaps to control parasites or clean feathers. quotations
Wild birds tend to ant and sunbathe most frequently during periods of high humidity, particularly right after heavy or prolonged rainfall in summer.
1974, Eloise Potter and Doris Hauser, “Relationship of anting and sunbathing to molting in wild birds”, in The Auk, volume 91, archived from the original on 6 June 2011, page 538