mosquito

noun

1. A small flying insect of the family Culicidae, the females of which bite humans and animals and suck blood, leaving an itching bump on the skin, and sometimes carrying diseases like malaria, dengue and yellow fever.

   “I do not quite know what it was that made me poke my head out of the friendly shelter of the blanket, perhaps because I found that the mosquitoes were biting right through it.”

   “We lit a driftwood fire to help keep the mosquitoes away. It was partially successful.”

   “Nicaragua has been investigating the possibility that the 1985 outbreak of dengue fever along its Honduran border may have resulted from the release of infected mosquitos by U.S. reconnaissance overflights.”

   “Sue had climbed up to the rafters and attached her mosquito netting over one of the exposed beams in the ceiling, and Edgar had climbed into the bed under it so no flying buzzies would mess with his ears.”

2. (historical)The De Havilland Mosquito, a Second World War military aircraft.
3. (alt-of, dated)Dated form of Miskito.

verb

1. To fly close to the ground, seemingly without a course.

name

1. A settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador.