n.1 a stinging often flesh-eating insect of the order Hymenoptera, esp. the common social wasp Vespa vulgaris, with black and yellow stripes and a very thin waist.
2 (in comb.) any of various insects resembling a wasp in some way (wasp-beetle).
Phrases and idioms:
wasp-waist a very slender waist. wasp-waisted having a very slender waist.
Derivatives:
wasplike adj.
Etymology: OE w{aelig}fs, w{aelig}ps, w{aelig}sp, f. WG: perh. rel. to WEAVE(1) (from the weblike form of its nest)