noun
Meaning 1
An ant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, dated
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Colloquial Variant guide
antmire
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
/ˈantmaɪɚ/
History
Etymology
Alteration of pismire by the Puritan settlers of the New World, equivalent to ant + mire (“ant”, obsolete). The Puritans were known to have adopted new terms or to have modified other ones to have less potential for offensiveness, hence the use of rooster for cock in North America, chickadee for tit, etc. The form anty-mire is likely a minced alteration of pissymire, a variant of pismire.