different between itch vs itchiness

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??/
• Rhymes: -?t?

Etymology 1

From Middle English icche, ?icche, from Old English ?i??e (“an itch”), from Proto-Germanic *jukj? (“an itch”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots yeuk (“an itch, itchiness”), Dutch jeuk (“an itch”), German jucken.

Noun

itch (plural itches)

1. A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch.
2. A constant teasing desire or want.

Synonyms

• yuck, yuik, yeuk (all in Scotland)

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English icchen, ?icchen, from Old English ?i??an, ?y??an (“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”).

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.
2. (intransitive) To have a constant, teasing urge; to feel strongly motivated; to want or desire something.

3. (transitive) To cause to feel an itch.
   • 2001, India Knight, My Life on a Plate (page 102)

     My head is suddenly itching me like mad.

4. (transitive, colloquial) To scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.
   • 2002, M D Huddleston, Missing Paige:

     "What makes you suspect him?" Max asked as he itched his neck.

   • 2002 January 4, "Cyd" (username), Itching, in alt.support.mult-sclerosis, Usenet:

     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!

   • 2003 November 21, "Jim Patterson" (username), Behavior Therapy for Itchy Clothes?, in alt.support.ocd, Usenet:

     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, Ray Emerson, The Riddle of Cthulhu:

     Ulysses thumped his side and itched his back side, then slipped into his car.

   • 2004, Philip Smucker, Al Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail:

     But when we asked more about the famous man whose specter still commanded the heights, the guard just sneered at me, pointed his gun back toward the road with one hand, and itched his chin with the other.

Derived terms

• make one's teeth itch

Translations

Anagrams

• chit, tich

English

Etymology

itchy +? -ness

Noun

itchiness (uncountable)

1. The state of being itchy.

References

• itchiness in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• itchiness in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.