itch Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite; characterized by persistent itching and skin irritation
    scabies.
    • he has a bad case of the itch
  2. noun a strong restless desire
    urge.
    • why this urge to travel?
  3. noun an irritating cutaneous sensation that produces a desire to scratch
    itching; itchiness.
  4. verb scrape or rub as if to relieve itching
    rub; scratch.
    • Don't scratch your insect bites!
  5. verb have or perceive an itch
    • I'm itching--the air is so dry!
  6. verb cause to perceive an itch
    • his skin itched
  7. verb have a strong desire or urge to do something
    spoil.
    • She is itching to start the project
    • He is spoiling for a fight

WordNet

Itch intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. icchen, icchen, AS. giccan; akin to D. jeuken, joken, G. jucken, OHG. jucchen.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Itched ; present participle & verbal noun Itching
Definitions
  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 noun
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913