Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wasp \Wasp\, n. [OE. waspe, AS. w[ae]ps, w[ae]fs; akin to D.
   wesp, G. wespe, OHG. wafsa, wefsa, Lith. vapsa gadfly, Russ.
   osa wasp, L. vespa, and perhaps to E. weave.] (Zo["o]l.)
   Any one of numerous species of stinging hymenopterous
   insects, esp. any of the numerous species of the genus
   {Vespa}, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of
   which are called {yellow jackets}.

   Note: The social wasps make a complex series of combs, of a
         substance like stiff paper, often of large size, and
         protect them by a paperlike covering. The larv[ae] are
         reared in the cells of the combs, and eat insects and
         insect larv[ae] brought to them by the adults, but the
         latter feed mainly on the honey and pollen of flowers,
         and on the sweet juices of fruit. See Illust. in
         Appendix.

   {Digger wasp}, any one of numerous species of solitary wasps
      that make their nests in burrows which they dig in the
      ground, as the sand wasps. See {Sand wasp}, under {Sand}.
      

   {Mud wasp}. See under {Mud}.

   {Potter wasp}. See under {Potter}.

   {Wasp fly}, a species of fly resembling a wasp, but without a
      sting.