noun
Regional Use
See dragonfly.
Etymology
Origin of mosquito hawk
An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; so called because it feeds on nocturnal insects such as mosquitoes
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.
He could dissect a butterfly or a mosquito hawk, and describe their parts as accurately as a spectacled student with a scalpel and microscope could talk about a cadaver.
From The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson
For this reason it is sometimes called mosquito hawk.
From The Insect Folk by Margaret Warner Morley
From the starlit sky above fell the shrill cry of the mosquito hawk, "peepeegeeceese, peepeegeeceese!"
From The Story of Isaac Brock Hero, Defender and Saviour of Upper Canada, 1812 by Walter R. Nursey
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
