midge
Americannoun
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any of numerous minute dipterous insects, especially of the family Chironomidae, somewhat resembling a mosquito.
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Chiefly British. a little person.
noun
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any fragile mosquito-like dipterous insect of the family Chironomidae, occurring in dancing swarms, esp near water
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any similar or related insect, such as the biting midge and gall midge
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a small or diminutive person or animal
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of midge
First recorded before 900; Middle English mygge, Old English mycg; cognate with German Mücke, Old Norse mȳ; akin to Greek myîa, Latin musca “fly”
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.
Because the midge has no known land based predators, plastic it consumes is unlikely to move far up the food chain.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2026
Terrifying as that is, the eye midge manages to be scarier.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2025
Other small fossils new to science have also been found at Otago sites this year, including the first dancefly, cranefly, phantom midge and marsh beetle fossils from New Zealand.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2024
In urban settings, the pinhead-size midge Culicoides paraensis transmits the disease between humans.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 4, 2024
Kingshaw went on scratching at the midge bites.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
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.
