gallinipper

[ gal-uh-nip-er ]

nounInformal.
  1. any of various insects that sting or bite, especially a large American mosquito, Psorophora ciliata.

Origin of gallinipper

1
First recorded in 1675–85; of obscure origin; final element apparently assimilated to nipper

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gallinipper in a sentence

  • I am somewhat like a dish of toasted gallinippers—whether it is palatable or not depending very much in the way it is served.

  • You are bitten by mosquitoes and gallinippers, driven mad by clouds of sand-flies, and stung by scorpions and centipedes.

    Letters of a Traveller | William Cullen Bryant