gnastit

[ME., also knast; The root of hem as a gnast shal be. Wyclif , Isa. v. 24. And goure str eng the shal ben as a deed sparke [var. deed sparcle, in earlier version gnast ] of a flax top [as tow, A. V.] and zoure werk as a sparcle. IMG:content-2442.jpg:[blocks in formation] gnast2t, v. t. and i. [ After thy text, ne after thy rubric he I wol not wirche as mochel as a gnat . Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 347. How hath she [nature] bestowed all the five senses in a gnat? Holland , tr. of Pliny, xi. 2. Gnats are unnoted wheresoe'er they fly, But eagles gaz'd upon with every eye. Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1014. 2. Any other insect of the family Culicid a. 3. A nemocerous dipterous insect; a midge. There are several families. The Mycetophilidæ are known as fungus - gnats or agaric -gnats. The Cecidomyiidæ include the gall - gnats. The buffalo - gnat is a species of Si mulium, family Simuliidæ (see cut under Simulium ); other simuliids are known as black - gnats and turkey - gnats. Species of Bibionidæ and Chironomidæ are also called gnats. See the compounds and technical words. gnat2 (nat), n. A bird: same as knot2.