mosquiton.
/məˈskiːtəʊ/, /mɒˈskiːtəʊ/, U.S. /məˈskidoʊ/ Any of various slender, long-legged dipteran flies with aquatic larvae, of the family Culicidae (suborder Nematocera), esp. of the genera Culex, Anopheles, and Aedes, whose females have a long proboscis with which they puncture the skin of animals (including humans) and suck their blood. Also figurative.These insects were formerly known in Britain as gnats, though that term is now taken to include many non-biting forms. Several serious diseases, including malaria, yellow fever, and filariasis, are transmitted by certain species of mosquito.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Nematocera > family Culicidae > member of (gnat or mosquito)
mosquito1572
moustique1666
mosquito fly1750
gnat1787
mosquito gnat1828
skeeter1839
vampire1864
culicid1907
mozzie1916
1572 H. Hawks in Writings & Corr. Two Richard Hakluyts (1935) i. 97 A certeine gnat or flie which they call a Muskito, which biteth both men and women in their sleepe.
1585 R. Grenville in Hakluyt's Voy. iii. xxiv. 734 The 29. day wee set saile from Saint Iohns, being many of vs stoong before vpon shoare with the Muskitoes.
1589 M. Philips in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 568 Wee were also oftentimes greatly annoyed with a kinde of flie,..the Spanyards called them Musketas.
1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Refut. Calumnious Relation Conf. vii. 35 in Briefe Replie to Libel He is like a flye, or rather, because he speaketh so much for Spaniards, a Spanish mosqueta.
1623 R. Whitbourne Disc. New-found-land 99 A very little nimble fly..which is called a Muskeito.
1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect i. xi. 46 The fourth is a Musketor which is not unlike to our gnats in England.
1655 E. Terry Voy. E.-India 123 In the night we were..very much disquieted with another sort [of fly] called Musqueetoes.
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 128 Howbeit the Muskitto's or Gnatts pestered us extremely.
1672 W. Hughes Amer. Physitian 9 That very small black and poysonous Fly, called a Muscato.
1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi vi. i. 7/1 They were..grievously infested with Moscheto's.
1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber xvi. 340 While these buzzing Muscatos have been fluttering round their Eyes, and Ears.
1745 London Mag. 396 Peach Trees..which are Nurseries of Muskettos and other Vermin.
1747 B. Franklin Let. in Wks. (1887) II. 98 If a musqueto..were to light on one of them.
1796 J. G. Stedman Narr. Exped. Surinam II. xx. 90 We were almost devoured by the clouds of gnats or musquitoes, which arose from a neigbouring marsh.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. 217 Kept awake all the night before by the wolves or moschettoes.
1837 W. S. Landor Pentameron in Wks. (1853) II. i. 310/2 The peopled region is peopled chiefly with monsters and moschitoes.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice II. iv. ix. 44 At Venice I was bit to death by musquitos.
1863 C. Reade Hard Cash I. vii. 210 When a man has a deep anxiety, some human midge or mosquito buzzes at him.
1902 19th Cent. Nov. 679 The great drawback to the far north of Sweden is the Mosquitoes.
1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 653/2 The etiologic agent of yellow fever was transmitted to man by the bite of a mosquito.
1994 Harrowsmith June 16/2 When a mosquito draws blood from the host animal, it also carries away some of the microfilaria.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
mosquito bite n.
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1792 E. P. Simcoe Diary 30 July (1911) x. 128 I suffered exquisite pain all the day from a mosquito bite.
1805 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 14 113 Small lumps resembling mosquito bites.
2000 Here's Health May 19/2 I'll be stocking up on Ledum for mosquito bites.
mosquito larva n.
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1876 Harper's Mag. Feb. 387/1 A slight brush of the tail of a mosquito larva does not cause the valve to open.
1890 Science 21 Nov. 284/2 Experiments in killing mosquito larvæ and pupæ with petroleum.
1990 Org. Gardening Dec. 48/1 The other day I discovered lots of mosquito larvae and, flying about above the water, mature mosquitoes.
mosquito repellent n.
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1927 Sci. Monthly Dec. 501/2 Our writer..concludes that the so-called mosquito repellents are not really repugnant to these insects but are effective merely because they change or disguise the attractive odors from the human skin.
1950 ‘N. Shute’ Town like Alice 43 If they were to spend another night upon the veranda she must get hold of some mosquito repellent.
2000 P. Scanlan in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 232 She sprayed mosquito repellent over the distraught Melissa.
mosquito season n.
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1850 W. C. Bryant Lett. Traveller 292 The Indians delighted in them [sc. wigwams] greatly, and always put them up during the mosquito season.
1994 Harrowsmith June 16/3 The vet would prescribe pills or chewable tablets that had to be given to the dog daily throughout the mosquito season.
mosquito sting n.
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1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 798 The scar of a mosquito sting.
a1939 F. M. Ford Süssmund's Addr. to Unknown God in Sel. Poems (1997) 67 I'm plagued with boils, Little mosquito-stings, warts, poverty!
1973 Amer. Q. 25 39 His is not a play with words designed to inflict a mosquito sting on vulnerable powers, but a profound concept.
b.
mosquito-borne adj.
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1908 Science 4 Dec. 793/2 Measures for prevention of mosquito-borne diseases.
1961 M. Hynes Med. Bacteriol. (ed. 7) xxv. 392 The Venezuelan virus is also mosquito-borne, but the reservoir is uncertain.
2000 Ralph 7 July 143/2 Mosquito–borne diseases such as malaria..are prevalent in some areas.
mosquito-bred adj.
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1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. i. 17 The mosquito-bred plasmodial spore.
mosquito-breeding adj.
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1876 Campaign Text Bk. (U.S. Democratic Party National Comm.) 186 The new site was selected on the very brink of the wide-spread mosquito-breeding and miasma-exhaling marshes.
1991 Indian Jrnl. Malariol. 28 227 One major mosquito-breeding site of about one sq km was eliminated by diverting the factory effluents into a drain.
mosquito-carried adj.
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1909 Westm. Gaz. 11 Feb. 2/3 The City of Rio de Janeiro, as regards mosquito-carried diseases, has..undergone a complete transformation.
1995 L. Garrett Coming Plague (new ed.) iv. 82 Casals had devoted most of his waking hours to studying a succession of deadly viruses: polio, Japanese encephalitis,..and a host of mosquito-carried South American agents he had discovered.
mosquito-free adj.
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1903 Science 11 Dec. 763/1 Nor did he see even the adults of that species until late in July; up to which time the pines were practically mosquito-free.
1989 E. Dorn Come to S. Amer. in Abhorrences (1990) 171 All accommodations guaranteed sanitized, pure water, mosquito free environment.
mosquito-infested adj.
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1897 Amer. Naturalist 31 358 House-boating along the mosquito-infested shores and islands of the Lower Rhone.
1996 S. King Desperation iv. ii. 570 She'd been at summer camp..in a stupid mosquito-infested cabin with a bunch of stupid girls.
mosquito-proof adj.
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a1650 W. Bradford Hist. Plymouth Plantation (1912) I. ii. 367 They are too delicate and unfitte to begine new-plantations and collonies, that cannot enduer the biting of a muskeeto; we would wish shuch to keepe at home till at least they be muskeeto proofe.
1863 Harper's Mag. Nov. 858/1 There was once a man in the city who insisted on it that he was mosquito-proof.
1900 Science 18 May 795/2 A mosquito-proof malaria hut has been constructed by Messrs. Humphrey, of Knightsbridge.
1986 Ecol. Monogr. 56 328 [Birds of several species] were collected from high-altitude forest habitats on Mauna Loa, where avian malaria is virtually absent, and transported in mosquito-proof cages to the Avian Disease Laboratory.
mosquito-thin adj.
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1933 R. Campbell Flowering Reeds 26 When to their roost the sacred ibis file, Mosquito-thin against the fading West.
C2. † mosquito fire n. Obsolete rare a fire lit to keep away mosquitoes.† mosquito gnat n. Obsolete rare = main sense.† mosquito trousers n. Obsolete trousers designed to protect the legs from mosquitoes.
mosquito bee n. a very small tropical bee with a vestigial sting, belonging to the subfamily Meliponinae (family Apidae); also called stingless bee.
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1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 61 Some of these Insects [sc. Melipona] are amongst the smallest of bees, so that one, or more, species go by the name of ‘Mosquito-bees’.
1977 O. W. Richards & R. G. Davies Imms's Gen. Textbk. Entomol. (ed. 10) II. 1260 The Meliponinae,..known as ‘mosquito’ or ‘stingless’ bees: the latter expression, however, is a misnomer, since a vestigial sting is present.
mosquito blight n. now chiefly historical a disease affecting the tea plant, caused by infestation with a tropical plant bug of the genus Helopeltis (family Miridae), esp. H. theivora; the insect itself (also called tea-bug).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > miscellaneous types > member of genus Helopeltis
mosquito blight1884
tea-bug1893
1884 Science 31 Oct. 426/2 The tea-bug or ‘mosquito-blight’, and the tea-mite or ‘red spider’, are the only two insects which are at present known to do such injury as to materially diminish the profits of the owners.
1899 D. Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. ii. 562 They are known as Mosquito blight. The egg is of comparatively large size, and is placed by the bug in the stems of the tea plant.
1903 G. Watt & H. H. Mann Pests & Blights Tea Plant (ed. 2) xiv. 265 When mosquito blight begins to affect the crop in May, the outlook is considered to be very serious.
mosquito boot n. a long boot worn to protect the leg and foot from mosquitoes.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > boot > [noun] > for specific purpose > for protection
mosquito boot1774
rain boot1888
snake boot1965
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica III. 884 In those places where they [sc. mosquitoes] are very numerous..the usual guard for the legs is the muskeeto-boot.
1945 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 5 36 Mosquito-boots, which are issued to airmen..are meant to be worn in the evenings. This is a malaria precaution.
1986 New Yorker 13 Jan. 40/3 They gave us these mosquito boots.
mosquito brigade n. now chiefly historical a body of people engaged in destroying mosquitoes or their breeding sites, to prevent the spread of malaria.
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1902 R. Ross (title) Mosquito brigades and how to organize them.
1916 Sci. Monthly Aug. 142 The shallow pools and puddles [in] the gardens and yards, and the cesspools under the houses were obliterated or treated with petroleum by the mosquito brigade.
1986 Amer. Hist. Rev. 91 329 Ross established mosquito brigades, which concentrated on eradication by means of drainage, systematic sanitary inspections, and killing the larvae with kerosene and the adults with insecticides.
mosquito bush n. any of several West Indian shrubs or herbs used (by hanging or burning) to repel mosquitoes and to treat fevers; (now) esp. Ocimum micranthum and O. gratissimum (family Lamiaceae ( Labiatae)) and Senna pallida (family Caesalpiniaceae ( Leguminosae)).
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1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 169 Musketo-Bush. This derives its name from its either real or pretended service in driving away by its smell Musketoes from bed-chambers.
1920 N. L. Britton & C. F. Millspaugh Bahama Flora 167 Cassia biflora... Bushy Senna. Mosquito Bush.
1954 W. Indian Med. Jrnl. 3 i. 247 Ocimum micranthum..Wild Barsley; Mosquito Bush; Wild Basil. Used as a general beverage. For fever and pain the decoction is taken as a drink and also as a bath.
1981 E. S. Ayensu Medicinal Plants W. Indies 110 Ocimum gratissimum L., diten jaraba, mosquito bush.
1981 E. S. Ayensu Medicinal Plants W. Indies 110 Ocimum micranthum Willd., jumbie balsam, basil,..mosquito bush, [etc.].
mosquito canopy n. now rare a canopy of gauze, etc., to keep out mosquitoes (cf. mosquito curtain n.).
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1857 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1856: Arts & Manuf. II. 317 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (34th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 65, Pt. 2) XVI Mosquito Canopy..The rods 8 and 9 which support the canopy [etc.].
1879 Bot. Gaz. 4 137 We spread our rubber blankets on a mattrass of cedar boughs, unroll bedding and erect a mosquito canopy.
mosquito coil n. a spiral made from a dried paste of pyrethrum powder with a combustion-supporting substance, which when ignited burns slowly and produces a smoke that inhibits mosquitoes from biting.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun] > devices or substances for repelling mosquitoes > preparations or heaps for burning or producing smoke
smoke1689
smudge1842
smudge fire1846
coil1963
mosquito coil1963
1963 Pyrethrum Post 7 22/2 Mosquito coils, as their name implies, are used to prevent adult mosquitoes from biting, particularly during the hours of sleep and are therefore designed to burn for about 8 hours.
1991 Holiday Which? Jan. 25/1 These [insecticide tablets] are more effective than traditional mosquito coils.
2000 Sunday News (Dar-es-Salaam) 26 Mar. 6/4 ‘Look the man is want to smoke dawa ya mbu.’ Dawa ya mbu is a mosquito coil.
mosquito curtain n. a curtain of fine netting or gauze designed to keep out mosquitoes and hung above and around a bed, etc. (cf. mosquito canopy n.).
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1770 J. Robinson Let. 15 Jan. in John Norton & Sons (1939) 119 Shall be glad you will see to the buying the..stuff for Musketo Curtains.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. III. 559/2 Specimen of lace net for mosquito curtains.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) ii. 90 Sitting up in bed at rooster's crow, parting the mosquito curtain, and slipping on shoes.
mosquito door n. a screen door designed to exclude mosquitoes from a house.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > screen > [noun] > other types of
speer1379
traverse1400
transom-lattice1689
blind1730
window blind1730
spire1768
Venetian window-blind1769
window shade1789
tatty1792
tat1810
Japanese screen1872
fusuma1880
curtain1895
mosquito door1929
tuku-tuku1936
fly-wire door1952
table screen1971
1929 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring–Summer 373/1 Palmetto Tent... Insect-proof mosquito door and rear window with storm flap operated from inside.
1967 P. M. Hubbard Custom of Country (1969) vi. 68 A servant who had been sitting in the veranda got up and held open the mosquito door.
mosquito dope n. slang (North American) insect repellent.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun] > devices or substances for repelling mosquitoes > other substances
culicifuge1894
mosquito dope1896
1896 Scribner's Mag. 19 776/2 Had it not been for the vile-smelling mosquito ‘dope’ which we carried and used, we could scarcely have withstood the pests.
1948 Chicago Tribune 11 July 7/1 New mosquito dopes are being tested by fishermen now that the insects are buzzing.
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1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. xiv. 220 The smoke which settles above a mosquetoe fire.
mosquito fish n. any of various freshwater fishes which eat mosquito larvae and pupae; spec. either of two small relatives of the guppy (family Poeciliidae), Gambusia affinis, native to the eastern and southern United States (and introduced elsewhere for mosquito control), and Heterandria formosa, of the south-eastern United States.
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1917 Philippine Jrnl. Sci. D 12 177 This species [sc. Gambusia affinis] is now known throughout the Orient as ‘mosquito fish’.
1957 Encycl. Brit. II. 159/1 The mosquito fish, Heterandria formosa, from Georgia and Florida, is the smallest live-bearing vertebrate known.
1960 H. S. Zim Guide to Everglades 40 Gambusia or mosquito-fish, named for its food, is an example of dozens of small fishes which are important links in the Everglades chain of life.
1992 Discover Feb. 9/2 Since the early 1900s, mosquito fish, guppylike natives of the southeastern United States, have been used world-wide to help control mosquito populations.
mosquito fly n. (a) = main sense (obsolete); (b) a fishing fly baited with or made in imitation of a mosquito.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Nematocera > family Culicidae > member of (gnat or mosquito)
mosquito1572
moustique1666
mosquito fly1750
gnat1787
mosquito gnat1828
skeeter1839
vampire1864
culicid1907
mozzie1916
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados iii. 87 The Muschetto-fly.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 420 The Musqueto-fly is..a large variety of the Common Gnat.
1992 In-Fisherman Feb. 114/3 I've seen a dozen wakes rush toward a mosquito fly as it lands.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Nematocera > family Culicidae > member of (gnat or mosquito)
mosquito1572
moustique1666
mosquito fly1750
gnat1787
mosquito gnat1828
skeeter1839
vampire1864
culicid1907
mozzie1916
1828 G. W. Bridges Ann. Jamaica II. xiii. 130 Culex pipiens, the mosquito gnat.
mosquito hawk n. North American (a) the nighthawk, Chordeiles minor; (b) regional a dragonfly, spec. one which preys upon mosquitoes.
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1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 144 East-India Bats or Musqueto Hawks, are the Bigness of a Cuckoo, and much of the same colour.
1737 J. Brickell Nat. Hist. N.-Carolina 163 The Muskeetoe-Hawks, are Insects, so called, from their continually hunting after Muskeetoes, and killing and eating them.
1866 W. R. King Sportsman & Naturalist in Canada 108 The somewhat rare swallow-tail or musquito-hawk,..soaring in pursuit of insects.
1967 E. B. Nickerson Kayaks to Arctic ix. 77 We learned..that in my father's childhood they [sc. dragon-flies] had been called ‘mosquito hawks’.
1988 L. Gough Death on No. 8 Hook iii. 21 He could still hear the mosquito hawks hunting in the air high above him.
mosquito net n. a fine net of lace, gauze, etc., to keep off mosquitoes.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > hangings > curtain > net or lace curtain > for specific purpose
fly-neta1000
gnat-net1658
mosquito net1745
mosquito bar1804
mosquito wire1949
1745 London Mag. Nov. 551/2 To scorn Umbrellas and Musketto-Nets, as Jamaican and Carolinean Effeminacies.
1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands i. 3 One comfort only was wanting in this hotel, and that was mosquito-nets.
2000 New Yorker 7 Feb. 77/1 Lele is snoring adenoidally under a mosquito net.
mosquito-netted adj. protected with mosquito netting.
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1936 Sci. Monthly May 406/2 We were glad to get into our narrow but mosquito-netted beds on the boat.
1999 Food & Wine Apr. 24/2 Ceiling fans and mosquito–netted beds replay the island fantasy.
mosquito netting n. a fine fabric with open meshes, used for making mosquito nets.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > with open texture > net or mesh > other
caul1481
mosquito netting1768
whip-net1839
filet1881
Grecian netting1882
vitrage net (also cloth)1886
pig net1948
micromesh1959
1768 N.Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 22 Feb. 3/3 Cotton Counterpaines, green Musqueto Neeting, super-fine Indian Chintz Counterpaines.
1840 J. B. Fraser Trav. Koordistan I. viii. 221 The bed being without curtains or mosquito netting.
1998 B. Kingsolver Poisonwood Bible (1999) iii. 235 This morning I pulled back the mosquito netting that's tucked in tight around our beds.
mosquito room n. a room which mosquitoes are prevented from entering.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > others
hell1310
summer hall1388
summer parloura1425
paradise1485
fire room1591
garden room1619
ease-room1629
portcullis1631
divan1678
but?1700
sluttery1711
rotunda1737
glass casea1777
dungeon1782
hall of mirrors1789
balcony-chamber1800
showroom1820
mirror room1858
vomitorium1923
mosquito room1925
refuge room1937
quiet room1938
Florida room1968
roomset1980
wet room1982
1925 C. Wells Six Years in Malay Jungle xiii. 196 I was most careful to lock the bird in the mosquito room.
1949 M. Mead Male & Female viii. 171 We asked Tomi..to..stop up the crevices between the mosquito wire and the..floor of our mosquito-room.
mosquito screen n. a screen of net, mesh, etc., designed to keep out mosquitoes, (now) esp. one fitted across a window or doorway.
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1867 T. Stover U.S. Patent 66,534 (title) Improved mosquito-screen for windows.
1899 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 28 292 The Ponapean mosquito screen, before the introduction of gauze and linen, is said to have been composed of a cloth made out of the bark of the Nin tree.
2000 Independent (Electronic ed.) 22 Dec. 14 Conditions in his home are frugal—simple meals, not even mosquito screens on the windows.
Mosquito State n. U.S. now rare (a nickname for) the State of New Jersey.
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the world > the earth > named regions of earth > America > North America > [noun] > United States > specific states > New Jersey
Garden State1852
Mosquito State1923
1923 World Almanac (N.Y.) 422 Nicknames of the States... N.J. ‘Jersey Blues’, ‘Garden’, ‘New Spain’, ‘Mosquito’.
1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 601 In the 80s and 90s New Jersey was known almost universally as the Mosquito State, mainly because of the swarms of the insects that beset New York City from the Jersey Marshes.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > (suitable) for specific purpose > other
mosquito trousers1785
track pants1910
shifting trousers1913
sweats1956
vorlages1958
1785 J. Ledyard Let. in J. Sparks Mem. J. Ledyard vii. 213 He was dressed in common musqueto trowsers.
1828 Mrs. B. Hall Let. 27 Apr. in Aristocratic Journey (1931) 261 We got her a pair of mosquito trowsers.
mosquito wire n. wire mesh used to exclude mosquitoes.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > hangings > curtain > net or lace curtain > for specific purpose
fly-neta1000
gnat-net1658
mosquito net1745
mosquito bar1804
mosquito wire1949
1908 Amer. Naturalist 42 36 The cages were made of mosquito-netting wire.]
1949 M. Mead Male & Female viii. 171 We asked Tomi..to..stop up the crevices between the mosquito wire and the..floor of our mosquito-room.
1950 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 37 624/2 For protection against storm winds and the noonday heat.., mosquito wire screens fixed to removable frames were provided.
C3. spec. Designating or relating to a lightweight, easily manoeuvred vessel.† mosquito-built adj. Obsolete designating a light vessel adapted for being rapidly manoeuvred.
mosquito boat n. a small gunboat, a motor torpedo boat.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > torpedo boat
torpedo boat1810
torpedo-vessel1877
torpedo craft1885
torpedo destroyer1896
T.B.1897
mosquito boat1911
oily wad1925
MTB1936
PT boat1941
torpilleur1950
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > gunboat > small
mosquito boat1911
1911 Naval War Rec. Office 1st Ser. 24 703 Black Hawk, ‘mosquito boat’, and tug went up Old River.
1914 Dial. Notes 4 150 Mosquito boat, small river craft carrying light guns.
1949 Mil. Affairs 13 44/2 A story about a neurotic mosquito-boat commander and an Australian bar maid.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel of specific construction or shape > [adjective] > lightly built for speed
lightOE
mosquito-built1824
light-draught1830
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller II. 242 A little rakish, musquito-built vessell, that could run into all kinds of waters.
mosquito craft n. small light vessels adapted for rapid manoeuvring; spec. mosquito boats.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel with reference to qualities or attributes > [noun] > with reference to behaviour at sea > light and nimble
mosquito craft1850
1850 H. Melville White-jacket l. 249 All the musquito craft of Abba Thule, king of the Pelews.
1950 William & Mary Q. 7 284 The mosquito craft are frequently more interesting than the frigates and ships of the line from a technical standpoint, for it was in small boats that new theories were first tried out.
1990 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 50 581 An index based on numbers of warships in the ‘basic classes’ (that is, excluding mosquito craft).
mosquito fleet n. a fleet of small manoeuvrable vessels, esp. fishing or pleasure craft pressed into service during wartime; also figurative.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > gunboat > small > fleet of
mosquito fleet1778
1778 J. Sullivan Let. 17 Sept. in P. D. Chase Papers George Washington (Revolutionary War Series) (2008) XVII. 40 The Sloops & Schooners mentioned by General Cornell by the name of the mesqueto Fleet..Stood Eastward Hugging the Shore.
1804 J. Larwood No Gun Boats 18 Man and victual the Musquitoe Fleet (as Wit in its wantonness has described it).
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 15 Sept. 1/2 Have we a sufficiently numerous mosquito fleet of torpedo boats, steam launches, and picket boats?
1931 J. F. McHale et al. Austral. Game Football 66 The Essendon team of 1922–1926 contained a number of very fast, skilful little players, known as the ‘mosquito fleet’.
1993 Amicus Jrnl. Spring 36/1 The fishermen..pulled together a ‘Mosquito Fleet’ to defend the sound's hatchery system.
Derivatives
moˈsquitoish adj. = mosquitoey adj.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > infestation by noxious creatures > [adjective] > with insects > with other insects
ticky1831
roachy1835
mosquitoeya1862
mosquitoish1880
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [adjective] > of or relating to family Culcidae > of or relating to mosquito > infested with mosquitoes
mosquitoeya1862
mosquitoish1880
1880 W. Senior Trav. & Trout in Antipodes 185 I was assured it was unbearably hot, muggy, mosquitoish, rainy, and stormy at Auckland.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1572