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  1. formicate love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling an ant or ants. Also formicine.
  2. To swarm (in the manner of ants).

Wiktionary

  1. v. To move like ants.
  2. v. To have a sensation like the movement of ants.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. (Zoöl.) Resembling, or pertaining to, an ant or ants.
  2. v. To creep or crawl like ants; swarm with, or as with, ants.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. crawl about like ants

Etymologies

  1. From Latin formica (ant) + -ate. (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “Instead of letting me watch two people formicate, the whole thing looks like one of those propaganda videos of "successful" missions in Iraq that the Pentagon is always showing.”

    Newsweek: American Beat: Party On, Paris!

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘formicate’.

Comments

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  • arby Hey, thank Geo - s/he listed it. I'm just the one who provided the cite. Jun 22, 2007

  • reesetee You may be right, oroboros--I'm no pismirologist. ;-) Jun 21, 2007

  • oroboros re: formic acid. I thought ants were MADE of formic acid, i.e., main constituent of their exoskeletons. Now I'm gonna haf to fine out... Jun 21, 2007

  • oroboros How 'bout pismigrate? ;o) Jun 21, 2007

  • trivet I *love* this word! Thank you, arby. Jun 21, 2007

  • reesetee So related to formic acid, which is secreted by ants. Sure doesn't *sound* ant-related. :-) Jun 21, 2007

  • arby I thought Ninjawords was having a larff but Webster's agrees:

    To creep or crawl like ants; swarm with, or as with, ants.

    An open space which formicated with peasantry. --Lowell.

    Genius!! Jun 21, 2007

  • arby What does it mean?

    signed, too lazy to Bartleby Jun 21, 2007

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‘formicate’ has been looked up 1732 times, loved by 1 person, added to 21 lists, commented on 8 times, and has a Scrabble score of 16.