Dictionary entry

Itch (2)

Webster's Dictionary 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(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.