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Webster 1913 Edition

Gnat

Gnat

,
Noun.
[AS.
gnæt
.]
1.
(Zool.)
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
.
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.
Gnat catcher
(Zool.)
,
one of several species of small American singing birds, of the genus
Polioptila
, allied to the kinglets.
–
Gnat flower
,
the bee flower.
–
Gnat hawk
(Zool.)
,
the European goatsucker; – called also
gnat owl
.
–
Gnat snapper
(Zool.)
,
a bird that catches gnats.
–
Gnat strainer
,
a person ostentatiously punctilious about trifles. Cf.
Matt. xxiii. 24.

Webster 1828 Edition

Gnat

GNAT

,
Noun.
nat.
A small insect, or rather a genus of insects, the Culex, whose long cylindric body is composed of eight rings. They have six legs and their mouth is formed by a flexible sheath, inclosing bristles pointed like stings. The sting is a tube containing five or six spicula of exquisite fineness, dentated or edged. The most troublesome of this genus is the musketoe.
1.
Any thing proverbially small.
Ye blind guides, who strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Matt.23.

Definition 2024

Gnat

Gnat

See also: gnat

English

Noun

Gnat ‎(plural Gnats)

  1. A type of jet fighter aircraft.

Anagrams

German

Noun

Gnat m

  1. gnat

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

gnat

gnat

See also: Gnat

English

Noun

gnat ‎(plural gnats)

  1. Any small insect of the order Diptera, specifically within the suborder Nematocera.

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡnat/

Noun

gnat m anim

  1. (colloquial) large bone
  2. (slang) gun

Declension

Etymology

From Middle English gnat, from Old English gnætt ‎(“gnat; midge; mosquito”), from Proto-Germanic *gnattaz, *gnattuz ‎(“gnat”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰneHdʰn-, *gʰneHd- ‎(“to gnaw; scratch”), from ‎Proto-Indo-European *gʰen- ‎(“to gnaw; bite; scratch; grind”). Cognate with Low German Gnatte ‎(“gnat”), dialectal Swedish gnatt ‎(“mote; particle; atom”), German Gnatz ‎(“scabs; rash; scabies; stinginess”). Related also gnit and gnaw.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /næt/
  • Rhymes: -æt

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