yellow jacket

Noun

yellow jacket (plural yellow jackets)

1. (US) A predatory wasp with alternating black and yellow stripes around the abdomen, usually of the genera Vespula or Dolichovespula.
   • Yellowjackets (Vespula spp.) and paper wasps (Polistes spp.) are beneficial insects in that they are predators of house flies and insect pests that damage landscape trees and crops.2002, Dennis R. Pittenger, California Master Gardener Handbook, page 183
   • The eastern yellowjacket (V. maeulifrons) and the hybrid yellowjacket (V. flavopilosa) are major picnic and campsite pests, especially in the fall in the eastern United States.[…]Many people are stung while getting a drink of water from fountains frequented by yellowjackets seeking water.2002, Roger D. Akre, Hal C. Reed, “19: Ants, Wasps an Bees (Hymenoptera)”, in Gary R. Mullen, Lance A. Durden, editors, Medical and Veterinary Entomology, page 398
2. (slang) A capsule of pentobarbital sodium (or sometimes other barbiturates), especially when used as a recreational drug.
   • Nearly every pharmaceutical house has its own brands, sold in tablets, solutions or brightly-colored capsules, on which its “detail men” keep doctors informed. Probably the most popular successors to Veronal are Seconal (“red birds” to the bootleg trade) and Nembutal (“yellow jackets”).1952 October 13, Richard L. Williams, “‘To sleep: perchance…’”, in Life, volume 33, number 15, page 110
   • Very soon he had a second addiction, phenobarbital; piled on top of his first one, alcohol. And the next step was to begin taking them together, just to be doubly sure he was going to feel better. He would wash down a “yellow jacket” pill with a shot of whisky.1955, James Lamb Free, Just One More: Concerning the Problem Drinker, New York, NY: Coward-McCann, Inc., page 11

   Synonyms:

   canary

3. Synonym of yellow vest (“member of a French protest movement which started in late 2018”).
   • Police and hundreds of so-called “yellow jackets” protesting against high taxes and living costs have clashed in Brussels as the movement that started in France two weeks ago gained traction in Belgium.2018 November 30, “Belgian police and ‘yellow jacket’ protesters clash in Brussels”, in Independent.ie
   • If you’re seeking the cause of the Dutch agriculture and fisheries protests, the Canadian trucker convoy, the yellow-jackets in France, the farmer rebellion in India a few years ago, the recent catastrophic collapse of Sri Lanka, or the energy crisis in Europe and Australia, you can instruct...2022 August 15, Jordan Peterson, “Peddlers of environmental doom have shown their true totalitarian colours”, in The Telegraph

   Synonyms:

   yellow vest