termite Hear it!

termite definition

ter·mite (tʉr′mīt′)

noun

any of an order (Isoptera) of pale-colored social insects having a soft body and living in colonies composed of winged forms that mate and wingless workers and soldiers that are usually sterile or immature: they are very destructive to wooden structures and are found in the temperate zones and esp. in the tropics

Etymology: < LL termes (gen. termitis) < L tarmes, wood-boring worm < base of terere, to rub, bore: see throw

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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