US /ˈpɪsˌmaɪɚ/ UK /ˈpɪsˌmaɪə/
noun

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    an ant (archaic or dialectal)

    The old poem likened the busy clerk to a tireless pismire.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · an ant (archaic or dialectal) antemmet
Word family
Related forms mire

Etymology

From Middle English pissemyre, a compound of pisse ('urine', from the urinous smell of an anthill) + mire ('ant'), the latter from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish myre).

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Topics

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