Adjacent Words

chigger definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans [syn: chigoe, chigger, chigoe flea, Tunga penetrans]
2: larval mite that sucks the blood of vertebrates including human beings causing intense irritation [syn: harvest mite, chigger, jigger, redbug]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1756 1. chigoe 1 2. [alteration of jigger (II)] a 6-legged mite larva (family Trombiculidae) that sucks the blood of vertebrates and causes intense irritation

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 = CHIGOE. 2 any harvest mite of the genus Leptotrombidium with parasitic larvae. Etymology: var. of CHIGOE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chigoe Chig"oe, Chigre Chig"re, n. [Cf. F. chigue, perh. fr. Catalan chic small, Sp. chico; or of Peruvian origin.] (Zo["o]l.) A species of flea (Pulex penetrans), common in the West Indies and South America, which often attacks the feet or any exposed part of the human body, and burrowing beneath the skin produces great irritation. When the female is allowed to remain and breed, troublesome sores result, which are sometimes dangerous. See Jigger. [Written also chegre, chegoe, chique, chigger, jigger.] Note: The name is sometimes erroneously given to certain mites or ticks having similar habits.