itching
/ˈɪt͡ʃɪŋ/
itching is the present participle and gerund of itch.
Meaning of itch
Verb
itch (third-person singular simple present itches, present participle itching, simple past and past participle itched)
- To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.
- 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.
- To cause to feel an itch.
- My head is suddenly itching me like mad.2001, India Knight, My Life on a Plate, page 102
- 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
Noun
itching (plural itchings)
- A sensation that itches.
- Itchings, hitherto unknown, are felt all over the body, and render my skin sometimes painfully tender, sometimes quite benumbed, as if it were dead.1856, Forbes Winslow, The Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology, page 71
- Synonyms:
- pruritus
Synonyms of itching
Forms of itching
| plural | itchings |
|---|
Origin of itching
From Middle English ecchinge, ȝitchinge, ʒicchinde, ʒichande (also unassibilated as yckyng), from Old English ġiċċende (“itching”), from Proto-West Germanic *jukkjandi, present participle of *jukkjan (“to itch”), equivalent to itch + -ing.
From Middle English icchynge, ichynge, ycchenge, yecchyng, ʒicchunge (also unassibilated as ʒykynge), equivalent to itch + -ing.
Words formed from itching
Phrases with itching
Words that rhyme with itching
Questions about itching
- What does itching mean?
- Itching means a sensation that itches.
- What is itching the present participle and gerund of?
- Itching is the present participle and gerund of itch.
- What part of speech is itching?
- Itching is a noun.
- How do you pronounce itching?
- Itching is pronounced /ˈɪt͡ʃɪŋ/.
- What is the plural of itching?
- The plural of itching is itchings.
Words near itching in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: itching (page history and authors); itch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-itching.wav.
Cite this entry: “itching.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/itching. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.