murder hornet

noun

plural murder hornets
: northern giant hornet

Note: This insect, formerly known as the Asian giant hornet, murder hornet, or Japanese giant hornet, was officially renamed the northern giant hornet by the Entomological Society of America in July 2022 in order to comply with Society policies discouraging geographic references for invasive species.

Examples of murder hornet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The report came just about four months after a separate murder hornet detection on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024 The murder hornet, formally known as the northern giant hornet, has been eradicated five years after it was first spotted in Washington state, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Charna Flam, People.com, 19 Dec. 2024 This remote monitor has a bait station that can detect the presence of the murder hornet and distinguish it from other insects. Discover Magazine, 14 Oct. 2024 Between earthquakes popping up in unusual places, murder hornets making a brief debut a couple years ago (remember those?), and the price of a Trader Joe’s banana rising for the first time in decades, the world seems to be increasingly unpredictable. Bychloe Berger, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024 In: Georgia Bees murder hornet Agriculture Simrin Singh Simrin Singh is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News. Simrin Singh, CBS News, 15 Aug. 2023 Washington state eradicated a giant nest of nearly 1,500 murder hornets in 2021. Simrin Singh, CBS News, 15 Aug. 2023 Earlier this year, nearly 1,000 hornet traps were set in Whatcom County, where the murder hornets were confirmed. Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2022 No murder hornet deaths have been reported in the USA. Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY, 13 Sep. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

2020, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of murder hornet was in 2020

Dictionary Entries Near murder hornet

Cite this Entry

“Murder hornet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murder%20hornet. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

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