/pung"kee/ , n.
any of the minute biting gnats of the family Ceratopogonidae. Also called biting midge, no-see-um .
[ 1760-70, Amer.; punkje, alter. of Munsee Delaware pónkwas (equiv. to Proto-Algonquian * penkw- dust, ashes + * -ehs- dim. suffix) + D -je dim. suffix ]