Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for aculeate. Search instead for Aculeata.
Synonyms

aculeate

American  
[uh-kyoo-lee-it, -eyt] / əˈkyu li ɪt, -ˌeɪt /
Also aculeated

adjective

  1. Biology. having or being any sharp-pointed structure.

  2. having a slender ovipositor or sting, as the hymenopterous insects.

  3. pointed; stinging.

aculeate British  
/ əˈkjuːlɪɪt, -ˌeɪt /

adjective

  1. cutting; pointed

  2. having prickles or spines, as a rose

  3. having a sting, as bees, wasps, and ants

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonaculeate adjective
  • nonaculeated adjective

Etymology

Origin of aculeate

From the Latin word acūleātus, dating back to 1595–1605. See aculeus, -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ovicells aculeate, with strong widely set spines, pyriform depressed.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John

Hymonoptera, large size of the cerebral ganglia in; classification of; sexual differences in the wings of; aculeate, relative size of the sexes of.

From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles

Sagittae: the inner pair of forceps in male genitalia of aculeate Hymenoptera: see stipites.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Having a sharp point; armed with prickles; prickly; aculeate.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah

Stipites: the outer pair of forceps in male genitalia of aculeate Hymenoptera see sagittae.

From Explanation of Terms Used in Entomology by Smith, John. B.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.