Itch

Itch - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ITCH, n.

1. A cutaneous disease of the human race, appearing in small watery pustules on the skin, accompanied with an uneasiness or irritation that inclines the patient to use friction. This disease is supposed by some authors to be occasioned by a small insect, a species of Acarus, as the microscope detects these insects in the vesicles. Others suppose the pustules only form a nidus for the insects. This disease is taken only by contact or contagion.

2. The sensation in the skin occasioned by the disease.

3. A constant teasing desire; as an itch for praise; an itch for scribbling.

ITCH, v.i.

1. To feel a particular uneasiness in the skin, which inclines the person to scratch the part.

2. To have a constant desire or teasing inclination; as itching ears. 2 Tim 4.

(charec; psora): Only in De 28:27, where it probably refers to the parasitic skin disease of that name which is very common in Palestine. It is due to a small mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, which makes burrows in the skin and sometimes causes extensive crusts or scabs, attended with a severe itching. It is very easily communicated from person to person by contact, and can be cured only by destruction of the parasite. This disease disqualified its victims for the priesthood (Le 21:20).