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itch

noun
/ɪt͡ʃ/

Etymology

From Middle English icchen, ȝicchen, from Old English ġiċċan, ġyċċan (“to itch”), from Proto-West Germanic *jukkjan (“to itch”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots yeuk (“to itch”), West Frisian jûkje (“to itch”), Dutch jeuken (“to itch”), Low German jocken (“to itch”), German jucken (“to itch”).

  1. inherited from *jukjǭ✻ — “itch”
  2. inherited from ġiċċe — “itch”
  3. inherited from icche

Definitions

  1. A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch…

    A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area.

  2. A constant teasing desire or want.

    • ... it left, however, a bee at his ear and an itch to transfer the buzzer's attentions and tease his darling; for she had betrayed herself as right good game.

  3. To feel itchy

    To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.

  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. To have a constant, teasing urge

      To have a constant, teasing urge; to feel strongly motivated; to want or desire something.

      • He started learning to drive and he has been itching for opportunities to practice ever since.

    2. To cause to feel an itch.

      • My head is suddenly itching me like mad.

    3. To scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.

      • "What makes you suspect him?" Max asked as he itched his neck.
      • I have to take both shoes and socks off! If I go bare foot I'm ok! I also get itching on my r/palm of my hand. I itch it so much that it's raw!
      • Basically I go through a half hour of trying to figure out of it is an fake OCD itch or a regular itch before I itch it (if I determine it's a "fake" itch, then I try not to itch it).

The neighborhood

Derived

antiitch, baker's itch, barber itch, barber's itch, barley itch, beard itch, bricklayer's itch, crotch itch, Cuban itch, dhobi itch, Dogger Bank itch, duck itch, grain itch, grocer's itch, ground itch, gym itch, hell's itch, itchless, itchlike, itch mite, itchsome, itchweed, itchy, jock itch, ked itch, lake itch, mad itch, Malabar itch, mattress itch, mihi itch, prairie itch, scratch an itch, scratch the itch, scratch one's own itch, seven-year itch, straw itch, swimmer's itch, washerwoman's itch, itcher, itch the ditch · +2 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at itch. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01itch02itchy03scratched04scratching05scratch06itching07itches

A definitional loop anchored at itch. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at itch

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA