† ˈcut-waist Obs.
An insect, esp. one with the division between thorax and abdomen deeply cut.
| 1607 Topsell Serpents (1653) 659 Wilde Hornets..live in the hollow trunks or cavities of trees, there keeping themselves close all the Winter long, as other Cut-wasts do. Ibid. 779 The Butter-fly, or any other Cut-waste. |
So ˈcut-waisted ppl. a.
| 1577 Harrison England iii. vi. (1878) ii. 36 The cut wasted (for so I English the word Insecta) are the hornets, waspes, bees, and such like. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1608) 638 A Bee is a cut-wasted living creature. |