'gnat owl' definitions:

Definition of 'gnat owl'

From: GCIDE
  • Gnat \Gnat\, n. [AS. gn[ae]t.]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]