Word.ws English Dictionary

trap-jaw ant

trap-jaw ant noun: any of a group of carnivorous ants, of the genus Odontomachus, that have mandibles that can snap shut on prey.

Noun

trap-jaw ant (plural trap-jaw ants)

  1. (informal) Any of a group of carnivorous ants, of the genus Odontomachus, that have mandibles that can snap shut on prey
    Synonyms:
    odontomach

Synonyms of trap-jaw ant

Forms of trap-jaw ant

pluraltrap-jaw ants
alternative formtrapjaw ant
alternative formtrap jaw ant

Origin of trap-jaw ant

From trap + jaw + ant, because the mandibles (jaws) snap shut forcefully like a trap.

Questions about trap-jaw ant

What does trap-jaw ant mean?
Trap-jaw ant means any of a group of carnivorous ants, of the genus Odontomachus, that have mandibles that can snap shut on prey.
What part of speech is trap-jaw ant?
Trap-jaw ant is a noun.
What is the plural of trap-jaw ant?
The plural of trap-jaw ant is trap-jaw ants.

Words near trap-jaw ant in the dictionary

  1. trap-bath split
  2. trap-door
  3. trap-doors
  4. trap-house
  5. trap-houses
  6. trap-jaw ant
  7. trap-jaw ants
  8. trap-pop
  9. trapaceous
  10. trapan
  11. Trapanese

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trap-jaw ant (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “trap-jaw ant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trap-jaw_ant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.