giant hornet

noun

plural giant hornets

1

: european hornet

European hornets, also called giant hornets, can damage plants by stripping bark to build their paper nests.

—Forsyth County News (Cumming, Georgia)

2

: asian giant hornet

The giant hornet extends about 3.5 to 3.9 centimeters in length (1.4 to 1.5 inches), roughly the size of a human thumb, and it has a black tooth used for burrowing, according to an animal database at the University of Michigan. The queens are even bigger, with bodies that can grow longer than 5 centimeters (2 inches).

—Madison Park et al.

Word History

First Known Use

1902, in the meaning defined at sense 1