giant hornet
noun
plural giant hornets
1
: european hornet
European hornets, also called giant hornets, can damage plants by stripping bark to build their paper nests.—Forsyth County News (Cumming, Georgia)
2
: northern giant hornet
The giant hornet extends about 3.5 to 3.9 centimeters in length (1.4 to 1.5 inches), roughly the size of a human thumb, and it has a black tooth used for burrowing, according to an animal database at the University of Michigan. The queens are even bigger, with bodies that can grow longer than 5 centimeters (2 inches).—Madison Park et al.
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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