| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| mud dauber |
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| NOUN: | Midland & Western U.S. Any of various wasps that build nests of mud with cellular compartments for eggs and paralyzed prey. Also called Regional mud wasp. Also called regionally Regional dirt dauber. | | REGIONAL NOTE: | There is no nationwide name for the wasp that makes itself a nest of mud. Rather, there are three regional variants. In the South, it is known as a dirt dauber. In the Northeast, and also scattered throughout the Midwest, it is a mud wasp. In between, in the Midlands, and also in the West, it has an in-between name, combining the first word of the Northern name and the last word of the Southern one to make mud dauber. One kind of mud-nesting wasp is also known as a potter wasp.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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