gnat

IPA/næt/
KK[nˈæt]IPA/næt/

gnat — 名詞

  • gnatsingular
  • gnatsplural

1. a very small two-winged fly that often bites people or animals on the skin, freq

1.名詞C1
釋義

蚋；小黑蚊

會咬人吸血的小型雙翅蚊蠅

a very small two-winged fly that often bites people or animals on the skin, frequently appearing in clouds near rivers, ponds, or damp grass at dusk.

例句

Ishaan slapped at a gnat that had landed on his neck while fishing.

Ishaan 釣魚時，一隻小黑蚊停在他脖子上，他伸手就拍。

verb + at + gnat for swatting motion

A cloud of gnats hovered above the pond as Maeve paddled past in her kayak.

Maeve 划獨木舟經過池塘時，一團小黑蚊就盤旋在水面上方。

collocation: a cloud of gnats

同義詞
  • midge

    near-synonym; often interchangeable, though 'midge' is more common in British English for the same kind of small biting fly.

  • fly

    broader; covers many winged insects, while a gnat is specifically a small biting one.

文法句型

a gnat

gnats (plural)

用法筆記

Subject is typically a swarm or cluster rather than a single insect; commonly modified by 'tiny' or 'small' to stress size. Often appears with 'cloud', 'swarm', or 'bite'.

常見錯誤

❌A gnat stung my arm.
✅A gnat bit my arm.
💡gnats bite, they do not sting like bees or wasps.

2. the word for the tiny fly, used in fixed comparisons to stress that something is

2.名詞C2
釋義

極小之物

用於比喻極小或極短的程度

the word for the tiny fly, used in fixed comparisons to stress that something is extremely small, short, or barely noticeable.

例句

The new phone is no bigger than a gnat compared with last year's brick of a model.

和去年那支像磚塊的型號比起來，新手機小得跟小蚋差不多。

fixed comparison: no bigger than a gnat

Quan won the race by a gnat's whisker, beating his rival by less than a second.

Quan 以極小的差距贏得比賽，只領先對手不到一秒。

idiomatic phrase: by a gnat's whisker

同義詞
  • speck

    noun-of-smallness, but used as a direct measure ('a speck of dust') rather than inside a comparison frame.

  • hair

    in 'by a hair'; similar fixed-comparison use for extremely close margins.

文法句型

no bigger than a gnat

a gnat's [body part]

用法筆記

Almost always inside a fixed comparison phrase ('no bigger than a gnat', 'a gnat's whisker / eyelash', 'attention span of a gnat'). Distinguish from sense 1 by the comparative frame: sense 2 names no real insect, only a tiny degree.

常見錯誤

❌The crowd was a gnat.
✅The crowd was as small as a gnat.
💡the figurative use needs a comparison frame ('as small as', 'no bigger than'), not a bare equation.