mosquito

noun mos·qui·to \ mə-ˈskē-(ˌ)tō \

Updated on: 17 Apr 2018

Definition of mosquito

plural mosquitoes also mosquitos

: any of a family (Culicidae) of dipteran flies with females that have a set of slender organs in the proboscis adapted to puncture the skin of animals and to suck their blood and that are in some cases vectors of serious diseases

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mosquitoey

play \-ˈskē-tə-wē\ adjective

See mosquito defined for English-language learners

See mosquito defined for kids

Recent Examples of mosquito from the Web

Preliminary investigations suggested sellers were adding cough medicine and anti-mosquito lotion to the alcohol.

— james griffiths, CNN, "More than 80 dead from drinking bootleg alcohol in Indonesia," 12 Apr. 2018
To revitalize tired mosquito spit, scientists added sulfate to the mix.

— vanessa zainzinger, Science | AAAS, "Mosquito spit can bust blood clots in mice," 10 Apr. 2018
The report outlines an Indiana that is warmer and wetter, posing a number of public health risks, including an increase of mosquitoes, ticks and other illness-spreading insects.

— emily hopkins, Indianapolis Star, "This is why Hoosiers may soon have to worry about diseases such as malaria and Zika," 6 Apr. 2018
Disease threats include avian malaria and pox virus carried by mosquitoes, according to the ʻAlalā Project.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Help name 12 rare Hawaiian crows nurtured by San Diego Zoo Global," 5 Apr. 2018
Rodents and bugs leave their hiding places; flies and mosquitoes are everywhere, and screens are rusty or simply absent.

— burt solomon, The Atlantic, "Our Back Pages: The Atlantic and Civil Rights," 4 Apr. 2018
Malaria is a parasitical disease transmitted by mosquitoes.

— conor gaffey, Newsweek, "World’s First Malaria Vaccine to Be Piloted in Africa in 2018," 18 Nov. 2016
About 300 people have been killed by the disease, which is spread by mosquitoes and kills about 8% of people who contract it since July 2017, causing concerns about an epidemic if the virus hits the country’s densely populated cities.

— grace donnelly, Fortune, "A Yellow Fever Outbreak Could Be the First Full-Blown Urban Epidemic in Brazil Since the 1940s," 22 Mar. 2018
The dengue virus, which is carried by the same mosquito as Zika, has been detected in the Rio Grande Valley in past years.

— todd ackerman, San Antonio Express-News, "More birth defects in Texas, other states where Zika spread," 27 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mosquito.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of mosquito

Origin and Etymology of mosquito

Spanish, diminutive of mosca fly, from Latin musca — more at midge

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1572

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Other Insect Terms

drone, entomology, gadfly, pismire, proboscis, vespine

MOSQUITO Defined for English Language Learners

mosquito

noun

Definition of mosquito for English Language Learners

: a small flying insect that bites the skin of people and animals and sucks their blood

MOSQUITO Defined for Kids

mosquito

noun mos·qui·to \ mə-ˈskē-tō \

Definition of mosquito for Students

plural mosquitoes

: a small fly the female of which punctures the skin of people and animals to suck their blood

Medical Dictionary

mosquito

noun mos·qui·to \ mə-ˈskēt-(ˌ)ō, -ə(-w) \

medical Definition of mosquito

plural mosquitoes also mosquitos

: any of numerous dipteran flies of the family Culicidae that have a rather narrow abdomen, usually a long slender rigid proboscis, and narrow wings with a fringe of scales on the margin and usually on each side of the wing veins, that have in the male broad feathery antennae and mouthparts not fitted for piercing and in the female slender antennae and a set of needlelike organs in the proboscis with which they puncture the skin of animals to suck the blood, that lay their eggs on the surface of stagnant water, that include many species which pass through several generations in the course of a year and hibernate as adults or winter in the egg state, and that include some species which are the only vectors of certain diseases — see aedes, anopheles, culex