Definition of "hornet" []

• Any of various large stinging wasps of the family Vespidae, chiefly of the genera Vespa and Vespula, that characteristically build large papery nests. (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.

• "The American general in charge of NATO today declared the coalition forces in Afghanistan, have stirred up what he called a hornet's nest."
• "One of our choppers brought me the other day what he called a hornet's nest; it was certainly too small and delicate a piece of workmanship for so large an insect; and I rather conjecture that it belonged to the beautiful black and gold insect called the wasp-fly, but of this I am not certain."
• "I have not had any experiences like the ones above but one thing that makes me madder than a hornet is when I am fishing down a row of docks and another boat cuts right in front of you and starts fishing the dock right in front of you."