itchn.
/ɪtʃ/, U.S. /ɪtʃ/ 1.
a. An uneasy sensation of irritation in the skin, which is relieved by scratching or rubbing; spec. a contagious disease, in which the skin is covered with vesicles and pustules, accompanied by extreme irritation, now known to be produced by the itch-mite; scabies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > itching diseases > scabies or mange
itcha800
riff1579
psora1585
scrubbado1651
Scotch fiddle1675
scrub1709
scabies1813
acariasis1815
scratch1828
seven-year itch1835
scrub-itch1909
swimmer's itch1928
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > irritation > itching > an itch
itcha800
yekthc897
α.
β. 1483 Cath. Angl. 426/1 A ȝeke, prurigo.a800 Leiden Gloss. 82 Prorigo, urigo cutis, gyccae.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 91 Þe Lord schal smyte þe wiþ..scabbe..and ȝicche.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 11823 Þe ȝicche toke him sikerly þe fester smoot þourȝe his body.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 91 If it be drie, it schal propirlie by clepid icche, And if it be moist, it schal be clepid scabbe.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 259/1 Icche, orȝiche (S. ikche, orȝykche), pruritus.
c1522 T. More Treat. Memorare Nouissima in Wks. (1557) I. 99 If thou shouldest for a litle ytche claw thy self sodeinly depe into ye flesh.
1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. iv. ii. f. 19v This vnguent is for iche of the leggs.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 117 The Italians..for the most part are troubled with an itch, witnesse the frequent cry in their streets..Ointment for the Itch.
1699 Ld. Shaftesbury Inq. conc. Virtue ii. ii. 176 In the case of that particular kind of Itch which belongs to a Distemper that has its name from that effect, there are some found so sensually inclin'd, that they esteem the continual allaying of that Ardor, however eager and fierce, to be acceptable and delightful.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. vi. i. 308 There really is a special parasite which gives rise to the Itch.
1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xv. 174 One of the most prevalent diseases in Mongolia is itch.
1900 Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 5 7 Stablemen refer to the itch in horses as ‘the dukes’ [yukes, see yuke n.]. A ‘dukey horse’ means a horse suffering from itch.
Categories »
b. Applied, with qualification, to various forms of eczema and other skin diseases, as bakers' itch, bricklayers' itch, grocers' itch (see these words). Norwegian itch, a form of leprosy occurring in Norway.
2. figurative. An uneasy or restless desire or hankering after something; a restless propensity to do something: usually spoken contemptuously. Const. of, for, after, (†at), or infinitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > uneasy or restless desire > [noun]
itching1340
miscovetise1496
itch1532
tickling1553
impatiency1564
cacoethes1570
impatience1581
pruritation1653
pruriency1656
mangea1674
prurience1777
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 371/2 For no desyre of mans prayse or ytch of vain glory, but of mere humilitie.
c1599 Life T. More in C. Wordsworth Eccl. Biogr. (1810) II. 147 Some of this new sect had taken such an itch of preaching, that they could hardly charm their tongues.
a1635 T. Randolph Muses Looking-glasse iii. iv. 55 in Poems (1638) One that out of an itch to be thought modest dissembles his qualities.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Shaking of Olive-tree (1660) ii. 4 There is an itch of the ear..that now is gron epidemical.
1665 T. Herbert Some Years Trav. (new ed.) 123 Their itch after Idol-worship is over.
1708 Wooden World Diss. 32 He has as great an Itch at breaking of Heads on Board, as he has ashore at breaking of Windows.
1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) xlvii. 253 Nothing can restrain a thorough-bred gamester; all ties and obligations give way to this agreeable itch of the elbow.
1753 S. Johnson Adventurer No. 115. ⁋3 The itch of literary praise.
1795 ‘P. Pindar’ Pindariana 229 The Virtuoso itch, For making a rare butterfly collection.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. vii. 126 He had an itch for authorship.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 201 The itch of originality infects his thought and style.
1876 R. Browning Filippo Baldinucci liv We fret and fume and have an itch To strangle folk.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
itch-allaying adj.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie iii. viii. sig. G3v But if he get her itch-allaying pinne, O sacred relique, straight he must beginne To raue out-right.
C2.
itch-acarus n. a small parasitic arachnid ( Sarcoptes scabiei) of the family Acaridæ, which burrows in the human skin, and gives rise to the disease called itch or scabies.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > family Sarcoptidae > sarcoptes scabiei (itch-mite)
handwormeOE
wheal-worm1648
ciron1676
itch-tick1822
itch-acarus1826
Sarcoptes1827
itch-mite1833
itch-insect1846
sarcoptid1869
mange mite1873
sarcopt1892
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xxiii. 332 The itch acarus (A. Scabiei, L.) is similarly circumstanced.
itch-insect n. = itch-acarus n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > family Sarcoptidae > sarcoptes scabiei (itch-mite)
handwormeOE
wheal-worm1648
ciron1676
itch-tick1822
itch-acarus1826
Sarcoptes1827
itch-mite1833
itch-insect1846
sarcoptid1869
mange mite1873
sarcopt1892
1846 G. Gregory Theory & Pract. Med. v. vi The itch insect was first accurately described by Bonomo in 1683.
itch-mite n. = itch-acarus n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > family Sarcoptidae > sarcoptes scabiei (itch-mite)
handwormeOE
wheal-worm1648
ciron1676
itch-tick1822
itch-acarus1826
Sarcoptes1827
itch-mite1833
itch-insect1846
sarcoptid1869
mange mite1873
sarcopt1892
1833 Penny Cycl. I. 70/1 The itch mite is a microscopic animal, found under the human skin in the pustules of a well-known cutaneous disease.
itch-reed n. popular name of White Hellebore ( Veratrum album).
ΚΠ
1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. (1772) I. 382 The English call it Itch-reed.
itch-tick n. = itch-acarus n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Acari or family Acaridae > family Sarcoptidae > sarcoptes scabiei (itch-mite)
handwormeOE
wheal-worm1648
ciron1676
itch-tick1822
itch-acarus1826
Sarcoptes1827
itch-mite1833
itch-insect1846
sarcoptid1869
mange mite1873
sarcopt1892
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 650 Infestment of the itch-tick.
itch-weed n. popular name of Swamp Hellebore ( Veratrum viride).
ΚΠ
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Itch~weed, Veratrum viride.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
itchv.1
/ɪtʃ/, U.S. /ɪtʃ/ 1. intransitive. To have or feel irritation of the skin, such as causes an inclination to scratch the part affected: said of the part; also of the person affected. Also impersonal, it itches, there is an itching.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > suffer or cause type of pain [verb (intransitive)] > itch
itchc1000
yukec1425
tickle1542
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (impersonal)] > itch
itch1530
α.
β. c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 258/1 Ichyn, or ykyn, or ȝykyn (K. yekyn, S. ȝichyn, H., P. ekyn), prurio.1468 Medulla Gram. (Promp. Parv. 538 (note) ) Prurio, to ȝeke.1483 Cath. Angl. 426/1 To ȝeke, prurire.1703 R. Thoresby Let. 27 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 430 Yeeke, [v. to] itch.c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 50 Wið giccendre wombe.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 70 Wið oþrum giccendum blece.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 176 Hwile þet ȝihchunge lest hit þuncheð god to grinden [read gnudden or gnuden].
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 496 My mouth hath icched [v.rr. ȝechid, yched] al this longe day.
c1430 Hymns Virg. 80 Oure body wole icche, oure bonis wole ake.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 595/1 Whan thy wounde begynneth to heale it wyll ytche.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. i. 28 I would thou didst itch from head to foote, and I had the scratching of the. View more context for this quotation
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iv. 154 After all perhaps we have no greater enjoyments among us than those of eating when we are hungry,..lying down when sleepy, or as the second Solomon has pronounced, than scratching where it itches.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 17 Socrates dilates on the pleasures of itching and scratching.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. III. 343 The cracks often itch in a most troublesome way.
2. figurative. To have an irritating desire or uneasy craving provoking to action. Often in one's fingers itch (to do something, originally to give a person a thrashing). Const. with infinitive; also for, (†at).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > uneasy or restless desire > have uneasy or restless desire [verb (intransitive)]
itch?c1225
longc1300
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 65 Lokið seið seint Ierome. þet ȝe nabben ȝichinde þe tungen ne þe earen.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Tim. iv. 3 Thei schulen gadere to gidere maistris ȝitchinge, or plesynge, to the eeris.
1579 J. Stubbs Discouerie Gaping Gulf sig. Eviijv [Our] fingers wyll itch at hym.
1606 No-body & Some-body sig. F3 My kinglie browes, itch for a stately Crowne.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) ii. iii. 42 If I see a sword out, my finger itches to make one. View more context for this quotation
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 57 His tongue itch't to be let loose.
1712 J. Arbuthnot Lewis Baboon iv. i. 2 His fingers itch'd to give Nic. a good Slap on the Chops.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 163 Keep thee from my failings free,—Nor itch at rhymes.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia II. iii. 45 The men's fingers are itching for a fight.
1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth II. xi. 221 No wonder men itch to be soldiers.
3. transitive. To cause to itch. Also reflexive and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > affect with type of pain [verb (transitive)] > irritate > itch
itch1577
1577 R. Stanyhurst Hist. Irelande iii. 90/2 in R. Holinshed Chron. I It may be, that..I shal be able like a flesh worme to itch the bodie of his Kingdome, and force him to scratch deepelie.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia xxvi. 145 Of Cowage, and the itching operation of some bodies.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 336 The plant is..well known on account of its sharp itching hairs.
1900 J. London Let. 16 June (1966) 107 It is a fascinating subject. It has itched me for long, and it is often all I can do to keep away from writing on it.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses iii. xviii. [Penelope] 714 My hole is itching me always when I think of him.
1947 Penguin New Writing 29 12 With long sensuous strokes he smoothed a patina of paint down the chairlegs, then itched with fussing dabs the corners and underneath.
1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse vi. 99 The thick super-salty water of the Mediterranean, which tires and itches the naked eye.
1951 L. MacNeice tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust ii. i. 171 The dice already itch me in my pocket.
1954 S. Beckett Waiting for Godot ii. 46 Then I can keep it [sc. a hat]. Mine irked me... How shall I say?..It itched me.
1973 Welcomat (Philadelphia) 10 Oct. 4/2 The sticker that itches her most is the one that says: ‘School's Open. Drive Carefully.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† itchv.2
Obsolete.
intransitive. To shift one's position a little; to move with a jerk or succession of jerks; = hitch v. 3.Here perhaps belong the following:
?a1639 A. Harsnett Gods Summons (1640) 413 Riches cannot..each us one haires breadth neerer heaven.
1701 J. Ray Wisdom of God (ed. 3) ii. 245 Without shifting of sides, or at least etching this way and that way, more or less.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > specific manner of progressive motion > move progressively in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > move along jerkily
itch1579
hitch1618
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 17v You shall see suche heauing, and shoouing, suche ytching and shouldring, to sytte by women.
1589 J. Lyly Pappe with Hatchet 1 Itch a little further for a good fellowe.
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 377 Shee still itcht neerer her husband.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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