GNAT
\nˈat], \nˈat], \n_ˈa_t]\
Definitions of GNAT
- 2006 - WordNet 3.0
- 2011 - English Dictionary Database
- 2010 - New Age Dictionary Database
- 1913 - Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
- 1919 - The Winston Simplified Dictionary
- 1899 - The american dictionary of the english language.
- 1894 - The Clarendon dictionary
- 1919 - The Concise Standard Dictionary of the English Language
- 1871 - The Cabinet Dictionary of the English Language
- 1790 - A Complete Dictionary of the English Language
Sort: Oldest first
-
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.
By Oddity Software
-
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.
By Noah Webster.
By William Dodge Lewis, Edgar Arthur Singer
-
A name applied to several insects of the genus Culex. The proboscis or sting of the female is a tube containing four spiculae of exquisite fineness, dentated or edged; these are the modified mandibles and maxillae. The males are destitute of stings, and are further distinguished by their plume-like antennae. The most troublesome of this genus is the mosquito. "Strain at a gnat" (Matt. xxiii. 24), to be scrupulous about small matters. In this phrase the at is said to be a typographical blunder of the first edition of the King James version of the Bible for out. It is an allusion to the custom of the Jews, Greeks, and Romans of passing their wines (which in the southern countries might easily receive gnats) through a strainer. This was a matter of religion with the Jews, who considered the insect unclean.
By Daniel Lyons
By James Champlin Fernald
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.