mossie

noun

1. (South-Africa)Any of various species of sparrow, especially Passer melanurus.

   “Our four baby mossies have left the nest.”

   “Another highly successful species, which has become a serious pest of fruit, is the Mossie or Cape Sparrow. The male mossie, with his black and white head and rufous mantle, is rather a handsome little bird; his wife lacks the head markings, being grey-brown with a pale eye-stripe.”

   “He laughs a deep laugh that rumbles up from somewhere in his drumskin stomach. It spooks the mossies on the overhead telegraph wire.”

2. (Australia, New-Zealand, UK, colloquial)A mosquito.

   “She came out, standing a head taller than him, tugging a loose cotton shift into place, and made for a rough brick fireplace beside a pile of rusting pots and pans. ‘Come inside,’ Willi said. ‘The mossies will eat you alive out here.’”

   “Tip 1 : Make sure there is clearance between your body and the net. If the net touches your skin, the mossie will be able to bite you through it.”

   “He had becoms full of Bay intelligence about mosquito repellent measures. Apart from the obvious—mossie coils, citronella candles, zappers, fine nets suspended over beds and Rid roll-on or spray—he decided to invest in bush gear from an army disposal store. The mossies, who know a city slicker when they bite one, had been stinging clear through his Calvin Clone T-shirts from the Hong Kong markets and feasting on his bare arms as if presented with a juicy buffet.”

3. (UK, colloquial, dated, historical, informal)A de Havilland Mosquito.

   “He leaned into the electric gunsight, aiming the Mossie at the left wingroot between engine and fuselage, where he knew there were fuel tanks — his right thumb mashed the control-column firing button.”

   “The Mossies were still able to land before the bombers were over the Channel.”

   “Almost 8,000 Mossies were built in Great Britain, Canada and Australia.”

4. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang)A person of Maori descent living in Australia.

name

1. (Ireland)A diminutive of the male given name Maurice.