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Webster 1913 Edition


Midge

Midge

,
Noun.
[OE.
migge
, AS.
mycge
; akin to OS.
muggia
, D.
mug
, G.
mücke
, OHG.
mucca
, Icel.
m[GREEK]
, Sw.
mygga
,
mygg
, Dan.
myg
; perh. named from its buzzing; cf. Gr. [GREEK] to low, bellow.]
(Zool.)
1.
Any one of many small, delicate, long-legged flies of the
Chironomus
, and allied genera, which do not bite. Their larvae are usually aquatic.
2.
A very small fly, abundant in many parts of the United States and Canada, noted for the irritating quality of its bite.
☞ The name is also applied to various other small flies. See
Wheat midge
, under
Wheat
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Midge

MIDGE

,
Noun.
A gnat or flea. [Not used.]

Definition 2024


midge

midge

English

A midge laying eggs
midges (lures)

Noun

midge (plural midges)

  1. Any of various small two-winged flies, for example, from the family Chironomidae or non-biting midges, the family Chaoboridae or phantom midges, and the family Ceratopogonidae or biting midges, all belonging to the order Diptera.
    • 2012 January 1, Douglas Larson, “Runaway Devils Lake”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 46:
      Devils Lake is where I began my career as a limnologist in 1964, studying the lake’s neotenic salamanders and chironomids, or midge flies. [] The Devils Lake Basin is an endorheic, or closed, basin covering about 9,800 square kilometers in northeastern North Dakota.
  2. (fishing) Any bait or lure designed to resemble a midge.

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