Category:Itch

Itch, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Itched; p. pr. & vb. n. Itching.] Etym: [OE. icchen,, AS. giccan; akin to D. jeuken, joken, G. jucken, OHG. jucchen.]

1. To have an uneasy sensation in the skin, which inclines the person to scratch the part affected. My mouth hath itched all this long day. Chaucer.

2. To have a constant desire or teasing uneasiness; to long for; as, itching ears. "An itching palm." Shak.

itch Itch, n.

1. (Med.)

Defn: An eruption of small, isolated, acuminated vesicles, produced by the entrance of a parasitic mite (the Sarcoptes scabei), and attended with itching. It is transmissible by contact.

2. Any itching eruption.

3. A sensation in the skin occasioned (or resembling that occasioned) by the itch eruption; -- called also scabies, psora, etc.

4. A constant irritating desire. An itch of being thought a divine king. Dryden. Baker's itch. See under Baker. -- Barber's itch, sycosis. -- Bricklayer's itch, an eczema of the hands attended with much itching, occurring among bricklayers. -- Grocer's itch, an itching eruption, being a variety of eczema, produced by the sugar mite (Tyrogluphus sacchari). -- Itch insect (Zoöl.), a small parasitic mite (Sarcoptes scabei) which burrows and breeds beneath the human skin, thus causing the disease known as the itch. See Illust. in Append. -- Itch mite. (Zoöl.) Same as Itch insect, above. Also, other similar mites affecting the lower animals, as the horse and ox. -- Sugar baker's itch, a variety of eczema, due to the action of sugar upon the skin. -- Washerwoman's itch, eczema of the hands and arms, occurring among washerwomen.