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Glite Dictionary
🦋 A dragonfly 🦅 A nighthawk bird
mosquito hawk

mosquito hawk

9.3
A North American bird active at night that eats flying insects
  • noun
  • /məˈskitoʊ hɔk/
  • US
translation icon : murciélago
  • We spotted a mosquito hawk swooping for bugs in the dusky evening sky.

Examples

  • Many people believe that the mosquito hawk helps control pest populations by eating insects at night.

  • I saw a mosquito hawk flying at dusk.

  • Farmers appreciate the presence of the mosquito hawk during warm summer nights.

  • Look at that mosquito hawk!

  • Farmers appreciate the presence of the mosquito hawk during warm summer nights, as it helps keep the insect population in check.

  • Many people believe that the mosquito hawk is effective in controlling pests by feeding on insects that are active at night.

  • We spotted a mosquito hawk gliding gracefully through the twilight, hunting for bugs in the dusky evening sky.

Synonyms

nighthawk
vsmosquito hawk
  • US
1 7.3

A night bird in North America that catches insects while flying

is described by general insect feeding without stressing aerial capture
nightjar
vsmosquito hawk
1 9.5

A bird active at night with grey-brown feathers and large eyes that eats insects

refers to a specific North American species rather than the whole family
bullbat
vsmosquito hawk
  • Archaic
9.9

A night bird in North America that flies low to catch insects

emphasizes the common alternative name without family emphasis

Antonyms

insect
341 1.0

A small animal with a body in three parts, six legs and often wings

Surface Forms

mosquito hawk singular
mosquito hawks plural

Morphology

mosquito + hawk

The compound reads as a straightforward composition: a 'hawk' that is associated with or eats 'mosquitoes', so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words can infer it denotes a bird (or insect‑eating creature) related to mosquitoes. Although regional uses sometimes apply the label to dragonflies or other insectivores, the head‑modifier logic is transparent and predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Mosquito hawk is also used for a night bird called the nighthawk. People saw it fly and catch insects like a little hawk at dusk, so the name came to mean 'a bird that eats insects at night'.