hornet

/ˈhɔrnət/

/ˈhɔnət/

Other forms: hornets

A hornet is a flying, buzzing insect with a painful sting. Much larger than bees, hornets look very similar to yellow jackets.

Etymologists suspect that hornet comes from an imitative root word (one that resembled a hornet's buzz) combined with horn, from the insect's horn-like stinger. This large wasp builds papery nests and lives in social groups like bees, with dominant queens. Hornets only sting if they're provoked — or if they think their nests are being threatened. Some people are dangerously allergic to their venom, and even without an allergy, you won't enjoy being stung by a hornet.

Definitions of hornet

1. noun

   a large flying insect with a painful sting
   types:

   Vespa crabro, giant hornet

   European hornet introduced into the United States

   Vespula maculata, bald-faced hornet, white-faced hornet

   North American hornet

   Vespula maculifrons, yellow hornet, yellow jacket

   small yellow-marked social wasp commonly nesting in the ground

   type of:

   vespid, vespid wasp

   mostly social nest-building wasps