English

Alternative forms

• Mozzie

Proper noun

Mossie

1. (Ireland) A diminutive of the male given name Maurice.

Etymology 2

Form of mossie ‎(“diminutive of mosquito”).

Alternative forms

• Mozzie

Noun

Mossie ‎(plural Mossies)

1. (dated or historical, Britain, military, informal, colloquial) A de Havilland Mosquito.
   • 1983, John Kelly, The Wooden Wolf, page 142,

     He leaned into the electric gunsight, aiming the Mossie at the left wingroot between engine and fuselage, where he knew there were fuel tanks — his right thumb mashed the control-column firing button.

   • 1993, Air League of the British Empire, Air Pictorial: Journal of the Air League, Volume 55, page 8,

     The Mossies were still able to land before the bombers were over the Channel.

   • 2003, Harold A. Skaarup, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. Warbird Survivors 2003: A Handbook on Where to Find Them, page 97,

     Almost 8,000 Mossies were built in Great Britain, Canada and Australia.

Anagrams

• mioses
• mosies

English

A mossie (Passer melanurus)

Noun

mossie ‎(plural mossies)

1. (South Africa) The common name for various species of sparrow, especially Passer melanurus.
   • 1963, Lady Joy Petersen Packer, Home from Sea, page 221,

     Our four baby mossies have left the nest.

   • 1969, J. M. Winterbottom, Cornelis Janse Uys, Some Birds of the Cape, page 93,

     Another highly successful species, which has become a serious pest of fruit, is the Mossie or Cape Sparrow. The male mossie, with his black and white head and rufous mantle, is rather a handsome little bird; his wife lacks the head markings, being grey-brown with a pale eye-stripe.

   • 2004, Troy Blacklaws, Karoo Boy, page 78,

     He laughs a deep laugh that rumbles up from somewhere in his drumskin stomach. It spooks the mossies on the overhead telegraph wire.

Etymology 2

Diminutive formed from mosquito.

Alternative forms

• mozzie

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒz.i/
• Rhymes: -ɒzi

Noun

mossie ‎(plural mossies)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A mosquito.
   • 1996, Patricia Shaw, The Opal Seekers, unnumbered page,

     She came out, standing a head taller than him, tugging a loose cotton shift into place, and made for a rough brick fireplace beside a pile of rusting pots and pans.

     ‘Come inside,’ Willi said. ‘The mossies will eat you alive out here.’

   • 2003, Jack Lagan, A B Sea: A Loose-Footed Lexicon, page 211,

     Tip 1 : Make sure there is clearance between your body and the net. If the net touches your skin, the mossie will be able to bite you through it.

   • 2012, Susan Kurosawa, Coasting: A Year by the Bay, unnumbered page,

     He had becoms full of Bay intelligence about mosquito repellent measures. Apart from the obvious—mossie coils, citronella candles, zappers, fine nets suspended over beds and Rid roll-on or spray—he decided to invest in bush gear from an army disposal store. The mossies, who know a city slicker when they bite one, had been stinging clear through his Calvin Clone T-shirts from the Hong Kong markets and feasting on his bare arms as if presented with a juicy buffet.

Anagrams

• mioses
• mosies