: the enlarged part of the abdomen behind the pedicel in hymenopterous insects (such as ants)
Examples of gaster in a Sentence
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Repletes gorge until their gasters, or the back end of their bodies, swell with the sweet stuff.
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Liz Langley, National Geographic, 30 Oct. 2019
The winter ants also store their food reserves in their gasters, or rear ends, which gives them a pretty spectacular silhouette.
—Aimee Levitt, Chicago Reader, 6 Sep. 2017
But the ants' hind parts don't go totally to waste; when given an entire ant to eat, the spiders would eat some of that, too, perhaps because certain nutrients are found chiefly in the gaster.
—Allison Bond, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2010
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Liz Langley, National Geographic, 30 Oct. 2019
The winter ants also store their food reserves in their gasters, or rear ends, which gives them a pretty spectacular silhouette.
—Aimee Levitt, Chicago Reader, 6 Sep. 2017
But the ants' hind parts don't go totally to waste; when given an entire ant to eat, the spiders would eat some of that, too, perhaps because certain nutrients are found chiefly in the gaster.
—Allison Bond, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2010
Cite this Entry
“Gaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gaster. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.
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