"no-see-um" meaning in English

See no-see-um in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: no-see-ums [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|head=no-see-um}} no-see-um (plural no-see-ums)
  1. (US, chiefly Southern US) Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular. Tags: Southern-US, US Categories (lifeform): Culicomorphs, Parasites Synonyms (Ceratopogonidae): midgie, sand fly, punkie, punky [US]
    Sense id: en-no-see-um-en-noun-D-7V0qv7 Disambiguation of Culicomorphs: 73 27 Disambiguation of Parasites: 69 31 Categories (other): American English, Southern US English, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 87 13 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 78 22 Disambiguation of 'Ceratopogonidae': 96 4
  2. Any biting bug or insect that is normally too small to see unaided.
    Sense id: en-no-see-um-en-noun-T3RDP9Cb

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for no-see-um meaning in English (3.8kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "no-see-ums",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "no-see-um"
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      "expansion": "no-see-um (plural no-see-ums)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Southern US English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "87 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Culicomorphs",
          "orig": "en:Culicomorphs",
          "parents": [
            "Dipterans",
            "Insects",
            "Arthropods",
            "Animals",
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "69 31",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Parasites",
          "orig": "en:Parasites",
          "parents": [
            "Lifeforms",
            "All topics",
            "Life",
            "Fundamental",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular."
      ],
      "id": "en-no-see-um-en-noun-D-7V0qv7",
      "links": [
        [
          "biting midge",
          "biting midge"
        ],
        [
          "Ceratopogonidae",
          "Ceratopogonidae#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, chiefly Southern US) Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
          "word": "midgie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
          "word": "sand fly"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
          "word": "punkie"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 4",
          "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
          "tags": [
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "punky"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1995, Beloit Fiction Journal, volume 11, page 37",
          "text": "Wherever we look up, there suspended against an areola of humming fluorescent white, is a shadowy funnel of tiny flies, bobbing in the air. 'No-See-Um's. This is what one employee calls them.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, William W. Forgey, Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid, page 166",
          "text": "These two examples of insect life are the scourge of the North Country, or any country in which they may be found. Many local people refer to any small black fly as a “no-see-Um\" but the true bug by that name is indeed very hard to see.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Frank Sargeant, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Boating and Sailing, page 103",
          "text": "An easy solution is to cover up, because they're not much for getting inside your clothes and they can't bite through even a thin shirt, as mosquitoes can. But it's often too hot in no-see-um country for a lot of clothing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Undercurrent: (Larkspur, Calif.), volume 15, page 14",
          "text": "... it's not as widely known as malaria, it can be every bit as painful, tenacious, and dangerous, as some of your fellow Undercurrent readers have told us. Worse yet, the source of the infection is nearly invisible the ubiquitous no-see-um.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, The Boundary Waters Journal, volumes 21-22, page 103",
          "text": "One of the biggest scams foisted on the camping community is tent manufacturers extolling their 1995 no-see-um bug netting. No-see-um netting may keep out the tiniest of insects, but unfortunately, it also barely lets air through.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any biting bug or insect that is normally too small to see unaided."
      ],
      "id": "en-no-see-um-en-noun-T3RDP9Cb"
    }
  ],
  "word": "no-see-um"
}
{
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    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "en:Culicomorphs",
    "en:Parasites"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "no-see-ums",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "no-see-um"
      },
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Entries using missing taxonomic name (species)",
        "Southern US English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "biting midge",
          "biting midge"
        ],
        [
          "Ceratopogonidae",
          "Ceratopogonidae#Translingual"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, chiefly Southern US) Any biting midge (family Ceratopogonidae), small flies (1–4 mm long); sometimes the species Leptoconops torrens in particular."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1995, Beloit Fiction Journal, volume 11, page 37",
          "text": "Wherever we look up, there suspended against an areola of humming fluorescent white, is a shadowy funnel of tiny flies, bobbing in the air. 'No-See-Um's. This is what one employee calls them.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, William W. Forgey, Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid, page 166",
          "text": "These two examples of insect life are the scourge of the North Country, or any country in which they may be found. Many local people refer to any small black fly as a “no-see-Um\" but the true bug by that name is indeed very hard to see.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Frank Sargeant, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Boating and Sailing, page 103",
          "text": "An easy solution is to cover up, because they're not much for getting inside your clothes and they can't bite through even a thin shirt, as mosquitoes can. But it's often too hot in no-see-um country for a lot of clothing.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Undercurrent: (Larkspur, Calif.), volume 15, page 14",
          "text": "... it's not as widely known as malaria, it can be every bit as painful, tenacious, and dangerous, as some of your fellow Undercurrent readers have told us. Worse yet, the source of the infection is nearly invisible the ubiquitous no-see-um.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, The Boundary Waters Journal, volumes 21-22, page 103",
          "text": "One of the biggest scams foisted on the camping community is tent manufacturers extolling their 1995 no-see-um bug netting. No-see-um netting may keep out the tiniest of insects, but unfortunately, it also barely lets air through.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Any biting bug or insect that is normally too small to see unaided."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
      "word": "midgie"
    },
    {
      "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
      "word": "sand fly"
    },
    {
      "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
      "word": "punkie"
    },
    {
      "sense": "Ceratopogonidae",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "punky"
    }
  ],
  "word": "no-see-um"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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