▪ I. ˈwaspy, n. Obs. exc. dial.
Now dial. wapsy.
[f. wasp n.1 + -y6.]
A wasp.
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 330 Angry as a waspy! a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Waps, wapsy, a wasp. |
▪ II. waspy, a.1
(ˈwɒspɪ)
[f. wasp n.1 + -y1.]
1. Resembling a wasp in form, wasp-like.
| 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 921 Whereupon that Greek Comick Poet calls those Maids,..for their slendernesse in the waste σϕηκοδεῖς [sic], waspy or like Wasps. 1869 T. W. Wood in Student II. 87 The hornet clearwing,..so waspy in appearance. 1870 Daily News 19 July 6 A brown horse with a light waspy middle. 1889 Sportsman 29 July 2/1 So long as a waspy waist is considered ‘a thing of beauty’. |
2. Abounding in wasps.
| 1681 Rector's Bk. Clayworth (1910) 53 It was also a very waspy year. 1880 Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 13 Very hot and waspy it was at dinner. |