01 n. A blood-sucking dipterous fly, of the genus Culex, undergoing a metamorphosis in water. The females have a proboscis armed with needlelike …
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1.
A blood-sucking dipterous fly, of the genus Culex, undergoing a metamorphosis in water. The females have a proboscis armed with needlelike organs for penetrating the skin of animals. These are wanting in the males. In America they are generally called mosquitoes. See Mosquito.(Zool.) See: Mosquito
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2.
Any fly resembling a Culex in form or habits; esp., in America, a small biting fly of the genus Simulium and allies, as the buffalo gnat, the black fly, etc.
Phrases & compounds
Gnat catcher —
one of several species of small American singing birds, of the genus Polioptila, allied to the kinglets.
Gnat flower —
the bee flower.
Gnat hawk —
the European goatsucker; -- called also gnat owl.
Gnat snapper —
a bird that catches gnats.
Gnat strainer —
a person ostentatiously punctilious about trifles. Cf. Matt. xxiii. 24. — Matt. xxiii. 24.