Meanings
nounantlion (plural antlions)
plural antlions · alternative ant lion
- Any of various species of insects, many of them nocturnal, in the family Myrmeleontidae. The adults superficially resemble the unrelated damselflies. The larvae bury themselves in sand below a cone-shaped pit in which they trap insects such as ants.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounwinged insect resembling a dragonfly; the larvae (doodlebugs) dig conical pits where they wait to catch e.g. ants
Similar
ant lionantlion fly
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From ant + lion. Compare translingual Myrmeleon.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans mierleeu
- mierleeunocturnal insects
Ancient Greek μυρμηκολέων
- μυρμηκολέων (murmēkoléōn)nocturnal insects
Arabic لَيْث عِفِرِّين, أَسَد النَّمْلِ
- لَيْث عِفِرِّين (layṯ ʕifirrīn)nocturnal insects
- أَسَد النَّمْلِ (ʔasad an-namli)nocturnal insects
Catalan formiga lleó
- formiga lleónocturnal insects
Chinese Mandarin 蟻獅 /蚁狮
- 蟻獅 /蚁狮 (yǐshī)nocturnal insects
Czech mravkolev
- mravkolevnocturnal insects
Dutch mierenleeuw
- mierenleeuwnocturnal insects
Estonian sipelgalõvi
- sipelgalõvinocturnal insects
Finnish muurahaiskorento, muurahaisleijona
- muurahaiskorentonocturnal insects
- muurahaisleijonanocturnal insects
French fourmi-lion, fourmilion
- fourmi-lionnocturnal insects
- fourmilionnocturnal insects
German Ameisenlöwe
- Ameisenlöwenocturnal insects
Hebrew אֲרִינָמָל
- אֲרִינָמָל (arinamál)nocturnal insects
Hungarian hangyaleső
- hangyalesőnocturnal insects
Icelandic maurljón, sandverpur
- maurljónnocturnal insects
- sandverpurnocturnal insects
Italian formicaleone
- formicaleonenocturnal insects
Japanese ウスバカゲロウ, 蟻地獄
- ウスバカゲロウ (usubakagerō)nocturnal insects
- 蟻地獄 (arijigoku)nocturnal insects
Latin formīca-leō
- formīca-leōnocturnal insects
Latvian skudrlauva
- skudrlauvanocturnal insects
Malay undur-undur
- undur-undurnocturnal insects
Persian مورچهگیر
- مورچهگیر (mōrčagir)nocturnal insects
Polish mrówkolew
- mrówkolewnocturnal insects
Portuguese mirmeleão, formiga-leão
- mirmeleãonocturnal insects
- formiga-leãonocturnal insects
Romanian leul-furnicilor
- leul-furnicilornocturnal insects
Russian муравьи́ный лев
- муравьи́ный лев (muravʹínyj lev)nocturnal insects
Spanish mirmelóntido, hormiga león
- mirmelóntidonocturnal insects
- hormiga leónnocturnal insects
Swedish myrlejon
- myrlejonnocturnal insects
Tamil குழிநரி
- குழிநரி (kuḻinari)nocturnal insects
Turkish karınca aslanı
- karınca aslanınocturnal insects
Vietnamese cúc, kiến sư tử
- cúcnocturnal insects
- kiến sư tửnocturnal insects
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
antlion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antlion
MLA
“antlion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antlion. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antlion,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antlion.
Source: antlion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.