wasp
B2Meanings
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1
noun
Alternative letter-case form of WASP (“white Anglo-Saxon Protestant”).
The show went through clothes to suit the lifestyle of a wealthy wasp, an American archetype that is now synonymous with the brand.
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2
noun
Acronym of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, a member of the supposed ruling class of America.
Bill got to college only by dint of support from a female relative and heiress (a useful WASP resource) and by scholarships, then a symbol of WASP entitlement.
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3
noun
Alternative letter-case form of WASP.
Purists like to confine Wasps to descendants of the British Isles; less exacting analysts are willing to throw in Scandinavians, Netherlanders and Germans. At the narrowest, Wasps form a select band of well-heeled, well-descended members of the Eastern Establishment; at the widest, they include Okies and Snopeses, "Holy Rollers" and hillbillies.
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4
noun
social or solitary hymenopterans typically having a slender body with the abdomen attached by a narrow stalk and having a formidable sting
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5
noun
a white person of Anglo-Saxon ancestry who belongs to a Protestant denomination
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6
noun
Any of many types of stinging flying insect resembling a hornet.
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7
noun
Any of the members of suborder Apocrita, excepting the ants (family Formicidae) and bees (clade Anthophila).
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8
noun
A person who behaves in an angry or insolent way, hence waspishly.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ Proto-Germanic *wapsō Proto-West Germanic *wapsu Old English wæps Middle English wasp English wasp Inherited from Middle English wasp, waspe, waps, from Old English wæsp, wæps, from Proto-West Germanic *wapsu, from Proto-Germanic *wapsō, from Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”), from *webʰ- (“to weave”), referring to the insect's woven nests. Compare Dutch wesp, German Wespe, Danish hveps. Metathesis of /s/ and /p/ was both a process of some generality within English (compare grasp from Middle English grapsen, and—affec…