Driver ant

Driver ant
Driver Driv"er, n. [From {Drive}.] 1. One who, or that which, drives; the person or thing that urges or compels anything else to move onward. [1913 Webster]

2. The person who drives beasts or a carriage; a coachman; a charioteer, etc.; hence, also, one who controls the movements of a any vehicle. [1913 Webster +PJC]

3. An overseer of a gang of slaves or gang of convicts at their work. [1913 Webster]

4. (Mach.) A part that transmits motion to another part by contact with it, or through an intermediate relatively movable part, as a gear which drives another, or a lever which moves another through a link, etc. Specifically: (a) The driving wheel of a locomotive. (b) An attachment to a lathe, spindle, or face plate to turn a carrier. (c) A crossbar on a grinding mill spindle to drive the upper stone. [1913 Webster]

5. (Naut.) The after sail in a ship or bark, being a fore-and-aft sail attached to a gaff; a spanker. --Totten. [1913 Webster]

6. An implement used for driving; as: (a) A mallet. (b) A tamping iron. (c) A cooper's hammer for driving on barrel hoops. (d) A wooden-headed golf club with a long shaft, for playing the longest strokes. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{Driver ant} (Zo["o]l.), a species of African stinging ant; one of the visiting ants ({Anomma arcens}); -- so called because they move about in vast armies, and drive away or devour all insects and other small animals. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • driver ant — n. ARMY ANT * * * ▪ insect       African member of the insect subfamily Dorylinae (family Formicidae; order Hymenoptera) characterized by a nomadic existence alternating with quiet, egg laying periods. These ferocious ant colonies, when in the… …   Universalium

  • driver ant — n. ARMY ANT …   English World dictionary

  • driver ant — noun tropical nomadic ant that preys mainly on other insects • Syn: ↑army ant, ↑legionary ant • Hypernyms: ↑ant, ↑emmet, ↑pismire • Member Holonyms: ↑Dorylinae, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • driver ant — driv′er ant n. ent army ant • Etymology: 1855–60 …   From formal English to slang

  • driver ant — /ˈdraɪvər ænt/ (say druyvuhr ant) noun any of the ants of the subfamily Dorylinae, occurring in tropical Africa and America, which live in temporary nests and travel as vast armies in long files, preying on other animals, chiefly insects. Also,… …  

  • driver ant — noun Date: 1859 army ant; specifically any of various African and Asian ants (Dorylus or related genera) that move in vast numbers …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • driver ant. — See army ant. [1855 60] * * * …   Universalium

  • driver ant — noun another term for army ant …   English new terms dictionary

  • driver ant. — See army ant. [1855 60] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Driver — may refer to: Contents 1 Places 2 Surnames of people 2.1 Fiction 3 Occupation and activity 3.1 …   Wikipedia

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