Termite

noun, verb

noun, verb ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A white-bodied, wood-consuming insect of the infraorder Isoptera, in the order Blattodea.

    "Linnæus describes this insect under the Latin name of Termes; and citizen Cuvier speaks of it under that of Termites. The vulgar call it by that of white ant, or fourmi vaguevague. The termites divide themselves into societies: each society builds itself a next, and each nest belongs to an innumerable quantity of these insects, who acknowledge for their chiefs a king and a queen."

  2. 2
    whitish soft-bodied ant-like social insect that feeds on wood wordnet
  3. 3
    A contemptible person.

    "This two faced termite has the nerve to talk."

Verb
  1. 1
    Of a chimpanzee: to catch termites by inserting a stick or vine into their nest and waiting for them to climb up it. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
white antinsectqueensoldiertermestermes

Example

More examples

"Our house has a termite problem."

Etymology

Inferred singular of termites, the plural of Latin termes (“woodworm”), which was used for termites by Linnaeus.

Related phrases

Formosan termitecathedral termitecompass termitecompass termitedampwood termitedampwood termitedrywood termitemagnetic termitemagnetic termitemeridian termitespinifex termitesubterranean termite

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.