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no-see-em (fly)
Informal
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a tiny winged insect, Culicoides sp., that has a nasty bite; also, sometimes a sandfly.
Quotations
1903
The midge, again, or punkie, or "no-see-'um," just as you please, swarms down upon you suddenly and with commendable vigour, so that you feel as though red-hot pepper were being sprinkled on your bare skin. . . .
1928
The needle-prick of an unobtrusive "no-see-um" reminded that the season of the venomous little sand-fly was not yet over.
1957
But we had plenty of company, both in the form of humans and no-see-em flies.
1964
For quite a long way after that the going was downhill, but near the bottom we struck swampy ground, a paradise for no-see-'ems, those minute flies whose burning bites are inversely related to their size.