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to have or feel a peculiar tingling or uneasy irritation of the skin that causes a desire to scratch the part affected:
My nose itches.
to cause such a feeling:
This shirt itches.
Informal. to scratch a part that itches.
to have a desire to do or get something:
to itch after fame.
to cause to have an itch:
His wool shirt always itches him.
Informal. to scratch (a part that itches):
to itch a mosquito bite.
to annoy; vex; irritate:
Her remarks itched me.
the sensation of itching.
an uneasy or restless desire or longing:
an itch for excitement.
a contagious disease caused by the , which burrows into the skin (usually preceded by the).
Contemporary Examples

Inside the itch, extreme weather—both flooding and drought—seem to be intensifying.
Sudan Drought Breeds Violence Eliza Griswold July 2, 2011

Pauline was born in Corsica in 1780 with an itch to scratch.
Pauline Bonaparte: Dead Cool Simon Doonan November 29, 2009

LIBRA Your palms may itch, signaling a cash infusion is on the horizon.
Horoscopes for June 5-11, 2011 Starsky + Cox June 3, 2011

The 18-month itch hits every administration—and some of these folks are heading for new jobs with their belief in Obama intact.
Obama’s Youth Brigade Burns Out Dayo Olopade June 2, 2010

They will always have the itch to be going, whether the going is good or not.
Is Travel Writing Dead? Malcolm Jones June 4, 2011

Historical Examples

Those substances that are known to destroy the insect that produces the itch, cure the malady.
Curiosities of Medical Experience J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

But he did not shoot, though one could see how his fingers must itch for the feel of the trigger.
Good Indian B. M. Bower

In Westphalia, they are peculiarly troubled with peripneumonies and the itch.
The Book of Curiosities I. Platts

There was nothing under heaven their fingers did not itch to change.
The Harbor Ernest Poole

The Filipinos use the infusion locally for itch with good results.
The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines T. H. Pardo de Tavera

noun
an irritation or tickling sensation of the skin causing a desire to scratch
a restless desire
any skin disorder, such as scabies, characterized by intense itching
verb
(intransitive) to feel or produce an irritating or tickling sensation
(intransitive) to have a restless desire (to do something)
(not standard) to scratch (the skin)
itching palm, a grasping nature; avarice
have itchy feet, to be restless; have a desire to travel
n.

Old English gicce, from giccan (v.) “to itch” (see itch (v.)). Sense of “restless desire” is first attested 1530s; itching in this sense is from mid-14c.
v.

Old English giccan “to itch,” from West Germanic *jukkjan (cf. Middle Dutch jöken “to itch,” Old High German jucchen, German jucken). Related: Itched; itching.

itch (ĭch)
n.

An irritating skin sensation causing a desire to scratch.

Any of various skin disorders, such as scabies, marked by intense irritation and itching.

v. itched, itch·ing, itch·es
To feel, have, or produce an itch.

Related Terms

scratch