Definition of "gaster" [gast•er]

• The portion of the abdomen behind the petiole in ants and other hymenopterous insects. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When alive, the spiders kept on the gaster-only diet initially grew but then shriveled, while those eating the head, legs and thoraces thrived, with some tripling their weight."
• "Hmm, a gaster government might come from having a family relation, maybe a brother, swing an election to the favor of the family by using local influence to stifle the opposition."
• "At Bush's shoulder stood Prowse, the acting-gaster, senior master's mate with an acting-garrant."