swamp angel

plural swamp angels

1. slangA mosquito.

   “[…] Let's eat lunch before the swamp angels find us.” “Mosquitoes,” Marian translated for her.

   2013, Donald R. Wilson, The Bucket Flower, page 88

2. UShistoricalslanggovernmentA Parrott rifle.

   On the 17th, the Parrot ^([sic]) "swamp angels" were moved to a position nearer Coosawhatchie bridge, […]

   1873, Henry Hall, James Hall, Cayuga in the Field, page 218

   1 more example

   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.

   2009, S. A. Carter, The Dark Side of the Mountain, page 372