Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sand \Sand\, n. [AS. sand; akin to D. zand, G. sand, OHG. sant,
   Icel. sandr, Dan. & Sw. sand, Gr. ?.]
   1. Fine particles of stone, esp. of siliceous stone, but not
      reduced to dust; comminuted stone in the form of loose
      grains, which are not coherent when wet.

            That finer matter, called sand, is no other than
            very small pebbles.                   --Woodward.

   2. A single particle of such stone. [R.] --Shak.

   3. The sand in the hourglass; hence, a moment or interval of
      time; the term or extent of one's life.

            The sands are numbered that make up my life. --Shak.

   4. pl. Tracts of land consisting of sand, like the deserts of
      Arabia and Africa; also, extensive tracts of sand exposed
      by the ebb of the tide. ``The Libyan sands.'' --Milton.
      ``The sands o' Dee.'' --C. Kingsley.

   5. Courage; pluck; grit. [Slang]

   {Sand badger} (Zo["o]l.), the Japanese badger ({Meles
      ankuma}).

   {Sand bag}.
      (a) A bag filled with sand or earth, used for various
          purposes, as in fortification, for ballast, etc.
      (b) A long bag filled with sand, used as a club by
          assassins.

   {Sand ball}, soap mixed with sand, made into a ball for use
      at the toilet.

   {Sand bath}.
      (a) (Chem.) A vessel of hot sand in a laboratory, in which
          vessels that are to be heated are partially immersed.
      (b) A bath in which the body is immersed in hot sand.

   {Sand bed}, a thick layer of sand, whether deposited
      naturally or artificially; specifically, a thick layer of
      sand into which molten metal is run in casting, or from a
      reducing furnace.

   {Sand birds} (Zo["o]l.), a collective name for numerous
      species of limicoline birds, such as the sandpipers,
      plovers, tattlers, and many others; -- called also {shore
      birds}.

   {Sand blast}, a process of engraving and cutting glass and
      other hard substances by driving sand against them by a
      steam jet or otherwise; also, the apparatus used in the
      process.

   {Sand box}.
      (a) A box with a perforated top or cover, for sprinkling
          paper with sand.
      (b) A box carried on locomotives, from which sand runs on
          the rails in front of the driving wheel, to prevent
          slipping.

   {Sand-box tree} (Bot.), a tropical American tree ({Hura
      crepitans}). Its fruit is a depressed many-celled woody
      capsule which, when completely dry, bursts with a loud
      report and scatters the seeds. See Illust. of {Regma}.

   {Sand bug} (Zo["o]l.), an American anomuran crustacean
      ({Hippa talpoidea}) which burrows in sandy seabeaches. It
      is often used as bait by fishermen. See Illust. under
      {Anomura}.

   {Sand canal} (Zo["o]l.), a tubular vessel having a calcareous
      coating, and connecting the oral ambulacral ring with the
      madreporic tubercle. It appears to be excretory in
      function.

   {Sand cock} (Zo["o]l.), the redshank. [Prov. Eng.]

   {Sand collar}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Sand saucer}, below.

   {Sand crab}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The lady crab.
      (b) A land crab, or ocypodian.

   {Sand crack} (Far.), a crack extending downward from the
      coronet, in the wall of a horse's hoof, which often causes
      lameness.

   {Sand cricket} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of
      large terrestrial crickets of the genus {Stenophelmatus}
      and allied genera, native of the sandy plains of the
      Western United States.

   {Sand cusk} (Zo["o]l.), any ophidioid fish. See {Illust.}
      under {Ophidioid}.

   {Sand dab} (Zo["o]l.), a small American flounder ({Limanda
      ferruginea}); -- called also {rusty dab}. The name is also
      applied locally to other allied species.

   {Sand darter} (Zo["o]l.), a small etheostomoid fish of the
      Ohio valley ({Ammocrypta pellucida}).

   {Sand dollar} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of small
      flat circular sea urchins, which live on sandy bottoms,
      especially {Echinarachnius parma} of the American coast.
      

   {Sand drift}, drifting sand; also, a mound or bank of drifted
      sand.

   {Sand eel}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) A lant, or launce.
      (b) A slender Pacific Ocean fish of the genus
          {Gonorhynchus}, having barbels about the mouth.

   {Sand flag}, sandstone which splits up into flagstones.

   {Sand flea}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) Any species of flea which inhabits, or breeds in,
          sandy places, especially the common dog flea.
      (b) The chigoe.
      (c) Any leaping amphipod crustacean; a beach flea, or
          orchestian. See {Beach flea}, under {Beach}.

   {Sand flood}, a vast body of sand borne along by the wind.
      --James Bruce.

   {Sand fluke}. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) The sandnecker.
      (b) The European smooth dab ({Pleuronectes
          microcephalus}); -- called also {kitt}, {marysole},
          {smear dab}, {town dab}.

   {Sand fly} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of small
      dipterous flies of the genus {Simulium}, abounding on
      sandy shores, especially {Simulium nocivum} of the United
      States. They are very troublesome on account of their
      biting habits. Called also {no-see-um}, {punky}, and
      {midge}.

   {Sand gall}. (Geol.) See {Sand pipe}, below.

   {Sand grass} (Bot.), any species of grass which grows in
      sand; especially, a tufted grass ({Triplasis purpurea})
      with numerous bearded joints, and acid awl-shaped leaves,
      growing on the Atlantic coast.

Source : WordNet®

punky
     n : minute two-winged insect that sucks the blood of mammals and
         birds and other insects [syn: {punkie}, {punkey}, {no-see-um},
          {biting midge}]