pismire

[ pis-mahyuhr, piz- ]

noun

1. an ant.

pismire

/ ˈpɪsˌmaɪə /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect word for an ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of pismire¹

1350–1400; Middle English pissemyre, equivalent to pisse to urinate + obsolete mire ant, perhaps < Scandinavian (compare Danish myre, Swedish myra ), cognate with Dutch mier; pejorative name from stench of formic acid proper to ants

Word History and Origins

Origin of pismire¹

C14 (literally: urinating ant, from the odour of formic acid characteristic of an ant hill): from piss + obsolete mire ant, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse maurr, Middle Low German mīre ant

Example Sentences

All of us are able to smell ants, for which the great word pismire was originally coined.

From Literature

The trust says the land includes much of Pismire Mountain as well as a forested parcel alongside Crescent Lake.

From Washington Times

I never saw her again; that was fate, or...to never see the wanted is that phenomenal blindness; to never have the beauty is pismire.

From Project Gutenberg

Take, if you please, the case of one of our best-known evangelical ministers, a member of the strictest of our orthodox sects, who spends a large proportion of his time in studying the ways of insects, and who would chase a pismire across the continent to find out its habits.

From Project Gutenberg

The point where we now were is called the Hasel Swamp; and, proceeding 117 onwards, we passed Pismire Hill, where rattlesnakes are said to abound.

From Project Gutenberg