From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishwaspwasp /wɒsp $ wɑːsp, wɒːsp/ ●○○ noun [countable] HBIa thin black and yellow flying insect that can sting you
Examples from the Corpus
wasp• It looks like a slightly small-sized cross between a bee and a wasp, but with a longer drooping tail.• The other three cocoons also had been parasitized by a wasp that must have laid her eggs into the caterpillar.• Adult wasps must have escaped out the trapdoor at the top of the cocoon where the strap attaches.• Gravid female fig wasps enter figs, lay eggs and die.• Through it all the words dance like butterflies and dart like wasps.• The chapter on wasps describes a recent renewal of interest following theoretical work.WASPWASP /wɒsp $ wɑːsp, wɒːsp/ noun [countable] American EnglishCLASS IN SOCIETY (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) an American whose family was originally from northern Europe and who is therefore considered to be part of the most powerful group in societyExamples from the Corpus
WASP• The chianti for the children is a dead giveaway that this is not a WASP gathering in the suburbs.• Rebecca asks me if I think all WASP Thanksgivings are like this one.• He had long sympathized with liberal causes and felt uncomfortable at the privileges his WASP background gave him.• It came to be controlled by a contingent of WASPs, wannabe WASPs, and social climbers.• In your mind, select a prototypical WASP and think like him.Origin wasp Old English wæps, wæsp 