Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small tropical flea (Tunga penetrans), the fertilized female of which burrows under the skin of humans and other mammals, causing intense irritation and sores that may become severely infected.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A larval harvest-mite, as the so-called
Leptus irritans . Same asred-bug and jigger, 2. - noun A very curious insect of the order Aphaniptera, or fleas, and family Pulicidæ, Pulex or sarcopsylla penetrans, closely resembling the common flea, but of more minute size, found in the West Indies and South America.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A species of flea (
Tunga penetrans , formerlyPulex 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. Seejigger .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small tropical
flea , Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin ofanimals , includinghumans , and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The floor was planked, not, as I found, from any regard for the comfort of the slaves, but because a small insect, a species of chigoe, which is in the soil, might get into the flesh of the poor creatures, and produce a disease which might ultimately kill them.
The Two Supercargoes Adventures in Savage Africa William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
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It is like the red "chigoe" which inserts his tiny head in the flesh and burrows until he causes a throbbing fester.
The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) Marion Harland 1876
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The chigoe fleas burrowed holes in his feet, which festered and made him limp.
The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004
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The chigoe fleas burrowed holes in his feet, which festered and made him limp.
The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004
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One enterprising and annoying insect, the chigoe, or "jigger," is able to bore a hole through the sole of a shoe and attack the foot.
Little Journey to Puerto Rico : for Intermediate and Upper Grades For Intermediate and Upper Grades Marian M. George
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When a person feels an irritation in these parts, he must immediately look at the place; and if he discern a tiny black point, surrounded by a small white ring, the former is the _chigoe_, or sand - flea, and the latter the eggs which it has deposited in the flesh.
The Story of Ida Pfeiffer and Her Travels in Many Lands Anonymous
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One of the most important of these is the jigger-flea or chigoe
Insects and Diseases A Popular Account of the Way in Which Insects may Spread or Cause some of our Common Diseases Rennie Wilbur Doane
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They will not live together, but every chigoe sets up a separate ulcer, and has his own private portion of pus.
Sydney Smith Rusell, George W E 1904
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When a person feels an irritation in these parts, he must immediately look at the place; and if he discern a tiny black point, surrounded by a small white ring, the former is the chigoe, or sand - flea, and the latter the eggs which it has deposited in the flesh.
The Story of Ida Pfeiffer Anonymous 1879
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The chigoe (_Pulex penetrans_) of the Gulf coast is still more injurious, because it burrows under the surface and deposits its eggs to be hatched out slowly with much irritation.
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse Charles B. Michener 1877
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