Itch (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Itched (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Itching.] [OE. icchen, 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.

 

© Webster 1913.


Itch, n.

1. Med.

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 Zool., 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. Zool. 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.

 

© Webster 1913.