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itch

Syllabification: (itch)
Pronunciation: /iCH/
Translate itch | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of itch

noun

[usually in singular]
  • an uncomfortable sensation on the skin that causes a desire to scratch.
  • informal a restless or strong desire: [with infinitive]:the itch to write fiction
  • [usually with modifier] a skin disease or condition of which itching is a symptom.
  • (the itch) informal scabies.

verb

[no object]
  • be the site of or cause an itch:the bite itched like crazy
  • (of a person) experience an itch.
  • informal feel a restless or strong desire to do something: [with infinitive]:your hands itch to take the wheel

Phrases

an itching palm

informal an avaricious nature.

Origin:

Old English gycce (noun), gyccan (verb); related to Dutch jeuk (noun) and Dutch jeuken, German jucken (verb)

itch in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of itch in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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