gnat /ˈnæt/
 小昆蟲,小煩擾


 gnat /ˈnæt/ 名詞



 Gnat n.
 1. Zool. A blood-sucking dipterous fly, of the genus Culex, undergoing a metamorphosis in water. The females have a proboscis armed with needlelike organs for penetrating the skin of animals. These are wanting in the males. In America they are generally called mosquitoes. See Mosquito.
 2. Any fly resembling a Culex in form or habits; esp., in America, a small biting fly of the genus Simulium and allies, as the buffalo gnat, the black fly, etc.
 Gnat catcher Zool., one of several species of small American singing birds, of the genus Polioptila, allied to the kinglets.
 Gnat flower, the bee flower.
 Gnat hawk Zool., the European goatsucker; -- called also gnat owl.
 Gnat snapper Zool., a bird that catches gnats.
 Gnat strainer, a person ostentatiously punctilious about trifles.  Cf. --Matt. xxiii. 24.

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 gnat
      n 1: any of various small biting flies: midges; biting midges;
           black flies; sand flies
      2: British usage


 Gnat
    only in Matt. 23:24, a small two-winged stinging fly of the
    genus Culex, which includes mosquitoes. Our Lord alludes here to
    the gnat in a proverbial expression probably in common use, "who
    strain out the gnat;" the words in the Authorized Version,
    "strain at a gnat," being a mere typographical error, which has
    been corrected in the Revised Version. The custom of filtering
    wine for this purpose was common among the Jews. It was founded
    on Lev. 11:23. It is supposed that the "lice," Ex. 8:16 (marg.
    R.V., "sand-flies"), were a species of gnat.