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buffalo gnat

American  

noun

  1. black fly.

buffalo gnat British  

noun

  1. Also called: black fly.  any of various small North American blood-sucking dipterous insects of the genus Simulium and related genera: family Simuliidae

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of buffalo gnat

An Americanism dating back to 1815–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now see what you done," yelled the victim of his energy, "you ain't got the sense of a buffalo gnat.

From Miss Minerva and William Green Hill by Calhoun, Frances Boyd

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.