MIDGE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Midge

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noun

Midge n. (Zool.)

Any one of many small, delicate, long-legged flies of the Chironomus, and allied genera, which do not bite. Their larvae are usually aquatic.

A very small fly, abundant in many parts of the United States and Canada, noted for the irritating quality of its bite. Note: The name is also applied to various other small flies. See Wheat midge, under Wheat.

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Etymology of 'Midge'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Midge" Quotes from Famous Books

... hand, and if I do but lift up my head, the whole room is in a merry-go-round. And that is nothing but weakness; there is nothing else on earth the matter with me, except that I am starved down to the strength of a midge!" ...

— Henrietta's Wish • Charlotte M. Yonge

... enemies. Hence the very common error that birds which destroy insects are beneficial to us, as they are more likely to destroy our insect friends than the fewer enemies. Those known as flycatchers may do neither harm nor good; so far as they eat the wheat-midge and Hessian fly they confer a positive benefit; in other instances they destroy both friends and enemies. Birds that are only partly insectivorous, and which eat grain and fruit, may need further inquiry. Prof. ...

— Scientific American Supplement No. 275 • Various

... forth brave Little John, And Midge, the miller's son; Which made the young man bend his bow, When ...

— The Book of Old English Ballads • George Wharton Edwards

... the hill they are crowding together, In the stand they are crushing for room, Like midge-flies they swarm on the heather, They gather like bees on the broom; They flutter like moths round a candle— Stale similes, granted, what then? I've got a stale subject to handle, A very stale stump of ...

— Poems • Adam Lindsay Gordon

Words linked to "Midge" : biting midge, Chironomidae, gall midge, gnat