Mos·qui·to ![]()
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Tweet n. pl. Mosquito or Mos·qui·tos See Miskito. [Spanish misquito, mosquito, from Miskito Miskitu, ethnic self-designation.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
n. pl. mos·qui·toes or mos·qui·tos Any of numerous slender two-winged insects of the family Culicidae, having aquatic larvae and in the adult female a long proboscis, used in most species for sucking blood. Some species of mosquitoes transmit the pathogens that cause certain diseases, notably malaria, yellow fever, and dengue. Also called regionally skeeter. See Note at tater. [Spanish and Portuguese, from diminutive of mosca, fly, from Latin musca.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.