▪ I. itch, n.
(ɪtʃ)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹyccæ, 4 ȝicche, 5 ȝiche, ȝykche, ikche, icche, 6 ycch(e, ytch(e, itche, ych(e, iche, 7 ich, 6– itch. β. 5 ȝeke. See also Sc. yuke.
[OE. ᵹicce, n. from stem of ᵹiccan: see itch v.1]
1. An uneasy sensation of irritation in the skin, which is relieved by scratching or rubbing; spec. a contagious disease, in which the skin is covered with vesicles and pustules, accompanied by extreme irritation, now known to be produced by the itch-mite; scabies.
| α a 800 Leiden Gloss. 82 Prorigo, urigo cutis, ᵹyccae. c 1340 Cursor M. 11823 (Trin.) Þe ȝicche toke him sikerly Þe fester smoot þourȝe his body. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 91 Þe Lord schal smyte þe wiþ..scabbe..and ȝicche. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 91 If it be drie, it schal propirlie by clepid icche, And if it be moist, it schal be clepid scabbe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 259/1 Icche, orȝiche (S. ikche, orȝykche), pruritus. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 99 If thou shouldest for a litle ytche claw thy self sodeinly depe into y⊇ flesh. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 20 This vnguent is for iche of the leggs. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 117 The Italians..for the most part are troubled with an itch, witnesse the frequent cry in their streets..Ointment for the Itch. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) II. 152 In the case of that particular kind of itch, which belongs to a distemper nam'd from that effect, there are some who, far from disliking the sensation, find it highly acceptable and delightful. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. vi. i. 308 There really is a special parasite which gives rise to the Itch. 1883 Gilmour Mongols (1884) 184 One of the most prevalent diseases in Mongolia is itch. 1900 N. & Q. 9th Ser. V. 7 Stablemen refer to the itch in horses as ‘the dukes’ [yukes]. A ‘dukey horse’ means a horse suffering from itch. |
| β 1483 Cath. Angl. 426/1 A ȝeke, prurigo. |
b. Applied, with qualification, to various forms of eczema and other skin diseases, as bakers' itch, bricklayers' itch, grocers' itch (see these words). Norwegian itch, a form of leprosy occurring in Norway.
2. fig. An uneasy or restless desire or hankering after something; a restless propensity to do something: usually spoken contemptuously. Const. of, for, after, († at), or inf.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 371/2 For no desyre of mans prayse or ytch of vain glory, but of mere humilitie. 1599 Life More in Wordsw. Eccl. Biog. (1853) II. 119 Some of this new sect had taken such an itch of preaching, that they could hardly charm their tongues. 1624 Bp. Hall Serm. Hampton Crt. Sept., Rem. Wks. (1660) 4 There is an itch of the ear..that now is grown epidemical. 1638 Randolph Muse's Looking-Gl. iii. iv, One that, out of an itch to be thought modest, dissembles his qualities. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 123 Their itch after Idol-worship is over. 1708 Wooden World Diss. 32 He has as great an Itch at breaking of Heads on Board, as he has ashore at breaking of Windows. 1726 Amherst Terræ Fil. xlvii. 253 Nothing can restrain a thorough-bred gamester; all ties and obligations give way to this agreeable itch of the elbow. 1753 Johnson Adventurer No. 115 ¶3 The itch of literary praise. 1795 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Pindariana Wks. 1812 IV. 237 The virtuoso itch For making a rare Butterfly-collection. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola vii, He had an itch for authorship. 1870 Lowell Study Wind. 201 The itch of originality infects his thought and style. 1876 Browning Filippo Baldinucci liv, We fret and fume and have an itch To strangle folk. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as itch-allaying adj.; itch-acarus, -insect, -mite, -tick, a small parasitic arachnid (Sarcoptes scabiei) of the family Acaridæ, which burrows in the human skin, and gives rise to the disease called itch or scabies; itch-reed, itch-weed, popular names of White and Swamp Hellebore (Veratrum album and viride) respectively.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. II. xxiii. 332 The *itch acarus (A. Scabiei, L.) is similarly circumstanced. |
| 1599 Marston Sco. Villanie iii. viii. 213 But if he get her *itch-alaying pinne, O sacred relique, straight he must beginne To raue out-right. |
| 1846 Gregory The. & Pract. Med. v. vi. (L.) The *itch insect was first accurately described by Bonomo in 1683. |
| 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 70/1 The *itch mite is a microscopic animal, found under the human skin in the pustules of a well-known cutaneous disease. |
| 1770 J. R. Forster tr. Kalm's Trav. N. Amer. (1772) I. 382 The English call it *Itch-reed. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 509 Infestment of the *itch-tick. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., *Itch⁓weed, Veratrum viride. |
▪ II. itch, v.1
(ɪtʃ)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹicc(e)an, 3 ȝichen, 3–4 ȝicchen, 4 ȝitchen (pres. pple. (Ayenb.) icinge), 5 ȝichyn, ȝechin, icchen, ycchen, iȝcchen, ichen, ychen, ychyn, 5–6 ytche, itche, 6–7 ytch, 6– itch. β. 5 ȝykyn, ȝekyn, ykyn, ekyn, ȝeke, 7 yeck.
[OE. ᵹicc(e)an (:—*ᵹiecc(e)an, with umlaut from *ᵹeocc-:—ᵹucc-):—WGer. *jukkjan (OHG. jucchen, MHG. jucken, jücken, Ger. jucken, OLG. jukid it itches, MDu. joken, jeuken, Du. jeuken), Goth. jukjan, from stem juk- whence OHG. jukido, OE. ᵹiecða, later ȝicða, ME. ȝykthe, yekth, itch. In the 14–15th c. the form ȝicch-, ȝitch-, lost its initial ȝ before i, whence the later itch. In some northern dialects the word came down with hard c or k, as ȝyk-, ȝik-, in 15th c. ȝeke, yeke. See also the Sc. form youk, yuck, yuke.]
1. intr. To have or feel irritation of the skin, such as causes an inclination to scratch the part affected: said of the part; also of the person affected. Also impers., it itches, there is an itching.
| α c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 50 Wið ᵹiccendre wombe. Ibid. 70 Wið oþrum ᵹiccendum blece. a 1225 [see itching vbl. n. 1]. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 496 My mouth hath icched [v. rr. ȝechid, yched] al this longe day. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 80 Oure body wole icche, oure bonis wole ake. 1530 Palsgr. 595/1 Whan thy wounde begynneth to heale it wyll ytche. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 29, I would thou didst itch from head to foot, and I had the scratching of thee. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 558 After all, perhaps, we have no greater enjoyments among us than those of eating when we are hungry,..laying down when sleepy, or, as the second Solomon has pronounced, than scratching where it itches. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 17 Socrates dilates on the pleasures of itching and scratching. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 343 The cracks often itch in a most troublesome way. |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 258/1 Ichyn, or ykyn, or ȝykyn (K. yekyn, S. ȝichyn, H., P. ekyn), prurio. 1468 Medulla Gram. (Promp. Parv. 538 note), Prurio, to ȝeke. 1483 Cath. Angl. 426/1 To ȝeke, prurire. 1703 Thoresby Let. to Ray (E.D.S.), Yeeke, [v. to] itch. |
2. fig. To have an irritating desire or uneasy craving provoking to action. Often in phr. one's fingers itch (to do something, orig. to give a person a thrashing). Const. with inf.; also for, († at).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 80 Lokeð, seið sein Jerome, þæt ȝe nabben ȝicchinde nouðer tunge ne earen. 1382 Wyclif 2 Tim. iv. 3 Thei schulen gadere to gidere maistris ȝitchinge [gloss. or plesynge] to the eeris. 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf E viij b, [Our] fingers wyll itch at hym. 1592 No-body and Some-body (1878) 326 My Kinglie browes itch for a stately Crowne. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. iii. 48 If I see a sword out, my finger itches to make one. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 57 His tongue itch't to be let loose. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iv. i, His fingers itched to give Nic. a good slap on the chops. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 163 Keep thee from my failings free,—Nor itch at rhymes. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia xviii. 205 The men's fingers are itching for a fight. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. xxxviii. (1896) 111 No wonder men itch to be soldiers. |
3. trans. To cause to itch. Also refl. and fig.
| 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 91/1 It may be, that..I shall be able like a fleshworme to itch the bodie of his kingdome, and force him to scratch deepelie. 1665, 1756 [see itching ppl. a. 3]. 1900 J. London Let. 16 June (1966) 107 It is a fascinating subject. It has itched me for long, and it is often all I can do to keep away from writing on it. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 748 My hole is itching me always when I think of him. 1947 Penguin New Writing XXIX. 12 With long sensuous strokes he smoothed a patina of paint down the chairlegs, then itched with fussing dabs the corners and underneath. 1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse vi. 99 The thick super-salty water of the Mediterranean, which tires and itches the naked eye. 1951 L. MacNeice tr. Goethe's Faust ii. i. 171 The dice already itch me in my pocket. 1954 S. Beckett Waiting for Godot ii. 46 Then I can keep it [sc. a hat]. Mine irked me... How shall I say?..It itched me. 1973 Welcomat (Philadelphia) 10 Oct. 4/2 The sticker that itches her most is the one that says: ‘School's Open. Drive Carefully.’ |
▪ III. † itch, v.2 Obs.
[app. identical with hitch v. and early ME. icche-n; but the history is not clear.]
intr. To shift one's position a little; to move with a jerk or succession of jerks; = hitch v. 3.
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 35 You shall see suche heaving and shooving, suche ytching and shouldring, to sitte by women. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet 1 Itch a little further for a good fellowe. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 377 Shee still itcht neerer her husband. |
Here perhaps belong the following:
| 1640 A. Harsnet God's Summ. 413 Riches cannot..each us one haires breadth neerer heaven. 1691 Ray Creation ii. (1701) 245 Without shifting of sides or at least etching this way and that way more or less. |
▪ IV. itch, v.3
variant of eche v. Obs., to augment, increase, eke out.
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. ii, Halfe pound of tobacco, and a quarter of a pound of Coltsfoot, mixt with it too, to itch it out. a 1624 Bp. M. Smyth Serm. (1632) 104 Where the lyon's skin will not reach, there they itch it with the fox skin. 1651 Bedell in Fuller's Abel Rediv., Erasmus 63 To itch out his travelling charges he agreed with Baptista Boeria..to accompany his two sonnes to Bononia. |
▪ V. itch
obs. variant of eche n.1, eke n.1 2.
| 1595 in Antiquary (1888) May 211 For itches for the bell roapes vj{supd}. |