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punkie†
[< Algonk.; see 1798 quote; cf. Ojibwa penkī small]
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This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.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.
See: no-see-em (fly)
Quotations
1798
. . . we had, to sustain, [inconvenience] from immense numbers of those small and almost imperceptible insects, called by the Delaware Indians, mocpungies, by our German brethren punks, and by the English Sandflies.]
1867
The tiny insect called . . . Punkees and mosquito (little fly) . . . belongs to the order Diptera.
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. . . .