itch

/ɪt͡ʃ/

itch noun: a sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area.

Noun

itch (plural itches)

A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area.
A constant teasing desire or want.
- ... it left, however, a bee at his ear and an itch to transfer the buzzer's attentions and tease his darling; for she had betrayed herself as right good game.1895, George Meredith, The Amazing Marriage

Verb

itch (third-person singular simple present itches, present participle itching, simple past and past participle itched)

(intransitive, stative) To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.
(intransitive) To have a constant, teasing urge; to feel strongly motivated; to want or desire something.
- He started learning to drive and he has been itching for opportunities to practice ever since.
- Capulet: ... Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; / My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest / That God had lent us but this only child; / But now I see this one is one too much, / And that we have a curse in having her: / Out on her, hilding!c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
(transitive) To cause to feel an itch.
- My head is suddenly itching me like mad.2001, India Knight, My Life on a Plate, page 102
(colloquial, transitive) To scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.
- "What makes you suspect him?" Max asked as he itched his neck.2002, M D Huddleston, Missing Paige
- I have to take both shoes and socks off! If I go bare foot I'm ok! I also get itching on my r/palm of my hand. I itch it so much that it's raw!2002 January 4, Cyd, “Itching”, in alt.support.mult-sclerosis (Usenet)

itch meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

itch in Hindi

an itch: खुजली khujlī
itch, scabies; mange: ख़ारिश xāriś
to itch, scratch: खुजलाना khujlānā
itch: खाज khāj

itch in Tamil

a sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch: அரிப்பு arippu, தினவு tiṉavu, நமைச்சல் namaiccal
to feel the need to scratch: அரி ari, நமை namai

itch in Marathi

a sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch: खाज khāj

itch in Urdu

to feel the need to scratch: کهجلی khujli

More languagesFewer languages

itch in Bengali: চুলকানি culkani
itch in Telugu: దురద durada
itch in Malayalam: ചൊറിയുക coṟiyuka, ചിരങ്ങ് ciraṅṅŭ, ചൊറി coṟi, കടി kaṭi
itch in Kannada: ನವೆ, ನಸೆ, ಕಜ್ಜಿ, ತುರಿ
itch in Punjabi: کھرک khurak
itch in Gujarati: ખંજવાળવું khãjvāḷvũ
itch in Odia: ଖୁଜଲୀ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
itch in Sanskrit: खस khasa, कष् kaṣ, कषति káṣati
itch in Sinhala: කසනවා kasanawā, හොරි hori
itch in Assamese: খজুৱতি khozuti, খজুলি khozuli, খজুটি khozuti
itch in Nepali: चिलाउनु cilāunu
itch in Pashto: خارخ xārax
itch in Tagalog: kati, mangati
itch in Arabic: حِكَّة ḥikka, أَحَكَّ ʔaḥakka
itch in Persian: خارش xāreš, خاریدن xāridan, خاراندن xārāndan
itch in Thai: ความคัน kwaam-kan, ความต้องการ kwaam-dtông-gaan, ความอยาก kwaam-yàak, คัน kan
itch in Vietnamese: ngứa
itch in Myanmar: ယား ya:

Examples of itch in a sentence

Basically I go through a half hour of trying to figure out of it is an fake OCD itch or a regular itch before I itch it (if I determine it's a "fake" itch, then I try not to itch it).2003 November 21, Jim Patterson, “Behavior Therapy for Itchy Clothes?”, in alt.support.ocd (Usenet):
Ulysses thumped his side and itched his back side, then slipped into his car.2003, Ray Emerson, The Riddle of Cthulhu:

All 40 example sentences with itch

Synonyms of itch

yuck
yuik
yeuk

Forms of itch

Noun
plural	itches
Verb
third-person singular present	itches
present participle	itching
past participle	itched
past	itched

Plural of itch: itches

Origin of itch

From Middle English icche, ȝicche, from Old English ġiċċe (“itch”), from Proto-Germanic *jukjǭ (“itch”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots yeuk (“itch, itchiness”), Dutch jeuk (“itch”), German jucken.

From Middle English icchen, ȝicchen, from Old English ġiċċan, ġyċċan (“to itch”), from Proto-West Germanic *jukkjan (“to itch”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots yeuk (“to itch”), West Frisian jûkje (“to itch”), Dutch jeuken (“to itch”), Low German jocken (“to itch”), German jucken (“to itch”).

Words formed from itch

Phrases with itch

Words that rhyme with itch

25 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about itch

What does itch mean?: Itch means a sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch said area.
What is itch in Hindi?: Itch in Hindi is खुजली (khujlī), ख़ारिश (xāriś), खुजलाना (khujlānā). See Itch meaning in Hindi.
How do you use itch in a sentence?: Basically I go through a half hour of trying to figure out of it is an fake OCD itch or a regular itch before I itch it (if I determine it's a "fake" itch, then I try not to itch it).
What part of speech is itch?: Itch can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce itch?: Itch is pronounced /ɪt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of itch?: The plural of itch is itches.

Words near itch in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-itch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “itch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/itch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.