swamp angel

English

Noun

swamp angel (plural swamp angels)

  1. (slang) A mosquito.
    • 2013, Donald R. Wilson, The Bucket Flower, page 88:
      “ […] Let's eat lunch before the swamp angels find us.”
      “Mosquitoes,” Marian translated for her.
  2. (US, military, slang, historical) A Parrott rifle.
    • 1873, Henry Hall, James Hall, Cayuga in the Field, page 218:
      On the 17th, the Parrot [sic] "swamp angels" were moved to a position nearer Coosawhatchie bridge, […]
    • 2009, S. A. Carter, The Dark Side of the Mountain, page 372:
      The two story brick house lay in ruins but had been fortified with Parrot rifles or 'swamp angels' that spewed forth their eight inch shot and shell at the Union lines, one thousand yards due east of it.
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