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 as red-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, formerly 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, 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

[Of Cariban origin; akin to Akawaiio (Cariban language of Guyana) chiigò.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

from Cariban chico.

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