Alternative spelling of punkie (“small two-winged fly or midge; lantern similar to a jack-o'-lantern”)

(geology) Of or pertaining to punk (touchwood); rotted or soft. / Of or pertaining to the punk subculture.

Alternative spelling of punkie (“pumpkinseed fish”)

(chiefly New England) A small two-winged fly or midge of the family Ceratopogonidae, which bites and then sucks the blood of mammals; a biting midge or sandfly.

(South West England, chiefly Somerset) In full punkie lantern: a lantern similar to a jack-o'-lantern consisting of a gourd such as a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel or swede which has been hollowed out, in which a candle has been placed; these are chiefly displayed during Punkie Night in late October.

(US) Synonym of pumpkinseed (“a North American sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus”).

plural of punkie

The quality of being punky (in various senses).

(South West England, chiefly Somerset) A night near the end of October, related to Halloween, observed in parts of South West England by the displaying of punkies (“lanterns similar to jack-o'-lanterns”), and traditionally by children begging for candles for their punkies and threatening people who refuse their requests.