: 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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In total, the researchers analyzed 357 contemporary mosquitoes and 22 historical specimens, and used additional mosquito samples from a separate study, which beefed up the overall count to about 800.—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025 According to the institute statement, which remained ambiguous about the mosquito’s permanence, the insect probably arrived via freight transportation.—Margherita Bassi, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2025 The volume of the glass panels represents one day in water evaporation and a mosquito’s life.—Mario Rodriguez, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2025 And now Ninja is trying to bring the outside in with its Foodi Smart XL Grill, which claims to give you backyard barbecue results without the smoke or mosquitoes.—Adam Campbell-Schmitt, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mosquito
Word History
Etymology
Spanish, diminutive of mosca fly, from Latin musca — more at midge
: any of numerous two-winged flies of which the females have a needlelike structure of the mouth region adapted to puncture the skin and suck the blood of animals
: 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
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