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# gnat

«gnat» in Mova's school dictionary: **a tiny flying insect, a bit like a very small fly, often…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a gnat, gnats)

### meaning for a pupil

A gnat is a tiny flying insect, a bit like a very small fly, often seen in clouds near water; some kinds bite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons gnats are insects with six legs and two wings; many are food for birds, bats and fish. In everyday life gnats buzz around faces on summer evenings. In stories, something annoying but small may be compared to a gnat. Phrases: a cloud of gnats, «strain at a gnat» (Bible: fuss over tiny things).

### examples

- A cloud of gnats hovered over the pond. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x1)
- I got bitten by gnats on the camping trip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x2)
- Swallows swoop to catch gnats in the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x3)
- The gnat was so small it got through the window net. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x4)
- In the Bible, Jesus speaks of people who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x5)
- The little gnat kept buzzing round my ear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x6)
- The gnats and flies grew blithe and merry. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/#x7)

### note

The «g» is silent: say «nat». Countable. In the US, «gnat» covers many small flies; in the UK, «midge» is often used for biting ones.

### In the corpora

- [Bats catch moths and gnats in the dark by shouting very high squeaks and listening for the echoes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/229-echolocation-how-bats-see-with-sound/5/)
- [He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats in all their borders.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PSA.1892/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «gnat» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/G/gnat/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.