Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A small two-winged fly or midge of the family Ceratopogonidae, which bites and then sucks the blood of mammals; a biting midge or sandfly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: New-England
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: noseeum, no-see-um, sandflea
Antonyms: none provided
noun
In full punkie lantern: a lantern similar to a jack-o'-lantern consisting of a gourd such as a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel or swede which has been hollowed out, in which a candle has been placed; these are chiefly displayed during Punkie Night in late October.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, South, West
Qualifier: chiefly Somerset
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Synonym of pumpkinseed (“a North American sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: pumpkinseed
Antonyms: none provided
noun
minute two-winged insect that sucks the blood of mammals and birds and other insects
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: punky, punkey, no-see-um, biting midge
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: gnat
History
From Jersey Dutch *punkje + English -ie (diminutive suffix). *Punkje is derived from Delaware Munsee *pónkwes + Dutch -je (diminutive suffix); and *pónkwes from Proto-Algonquian *penkw- (“ashes; dust”) (whence Unami punkw (“dust”); probably referring to the insects’ small size) + *-ehs- (diminutive suffix). Compare the name of the Pennsylvania, USA, borough Punxsutawney (from Unami punkwës utènay (“sandfly town”)).
Possibly an alteration of pumpkin (“plant of the species Cucurbita pepo; round orange or yellow fruit of this plant; (archaic) any type of edible gourd”) + -ie (diminutive suffix).
Possibly an alteration of the first two syllables of pumpkinseed (“the North American sunfish Lepomis gibbosus”) + -ie (diminutive suffix).
