gnat
any of certain small flies, especially the biting gnats or punkies of the family Ceratopogonidae, the midges of the family Chironomidae, and the black flies of the family Simuliidae.
British. mosquito.
Idioms about gnat
strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, to fuss about trifles while ignoring more serious matters.
Origin of gnat
1Other words from gnat
- gnatlike, adjective
Words Nearby gnat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use gnat in a sentence
A combination of essential oils initially didn’t seem like it would offer the strongest protection, but after taking it with me on backpacking trips and marveling at its ability to protect me from gnats at the beach, I’m convinced.
This Deet-Free Mosquito Spray Keeps Bugs From Eating Me Up | Morgan Thompson | July 23, 2021 | The Daily BeastSwarms of gnats worked the sunlight and bass boats spun past on the current below us.
Some kind of fly, gnit, gnat, tick or flea of some kind...the desert kind.
Marine First Lieutenant Nathan Krissoff’s Last Letters Home From Iraq | Matt Pottinger | May 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe recently tweeted that a certain Post reporter is “a sleazy, from-under-a-rock tab gnat.”
JASON ( swatting an imaginary gnat): Hope over fear... What a crock.
Dun gnat—from inside wing feather of a Landrail and fawn coloured silk—cypher hook.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandThe Black gnat—dubbed with black mohair, the wings of the lightest part of a starling.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandLittle Black gnat—dubbed with black strands from an ostrich, wings, light feather from underneath starling's wing.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandMy, it was a feast that made his eyes open and his stomach swell like a toad's trying to swallow a gnat.
Bumper, The White Rabbit | George Ethelbert WalshWhen once this gnat had disappeared—and the life of the Mosquito is not a long one—the bird would die of starvation.
More Hunting Wasps | J. Henri Fabre
British Dictionary definitions for gnat
/ (næt) /
any of various small fragile biting dipterous insects of the suborder Nematocera, esp Culex pipiens (common gnat), which abounds near stagnant water
Origin of gnat
1Derived forms of gnat
- gnatlike, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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