DCHP-1 Online
punkie † [< Algonk.; see 1798 quote; cf. Ojibwa penkī small] 
n. a tiny winged insect, Culicoides sp., that has a nasty bite; also, sometimes a sandfly.
See also: no-see-em (fly)
- 1798 (1957) . . . we had, to sustain, [inconvenience] from immense numbers of those small and almost imperceptible insects, called by the Delaware Indians, mocpungies, by our German brethren punks, and by the English Sandflies.]
- 1867 The tiny insect called . . . Punkees and mosquito (little fly) . . . belongs to the order Diptera.
- 1903 The midge, again, or punkie, or "no-see-'um," just as you please, swarms down upon you suddenly and with commendable vigour, so that you feel as though red-hot pepper were being sprinkled on your bare skin. . . .
- 1798 (1957) . . . we had, to sustain, [inconvenience] from immense numbers of those small and almost imperceptible insects, called by the Delaware Indians, mocpungies, by our German brethren punks, and by the English Sandflies.]