different between thirst vs itch

English

Etymology

From Middle English thirst, thurst, from Old English þurst, from Proto-West Germanic *þurstu, from Proto-Germanic *þurstuz, from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“dry”).

Germanic cognates include Old High German thurst, Middle High German durst, German Durst, Old Saxon thurst, Old Dutch thursti, Middle Dutch dorst, dorste, Dutch dorst, Old Norse þorsti (Swedish törst, Icelandic þorsti, Danish tørst, Norwegian tørst). Indo-European cognates include Ancient Greek ???????? (térsomai), Albanian djersë (“sweat”), Sanskrit ?????? (t????, “desire; thirst”), Sanskrit ??????? (t???yati), Latin terra.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thûrst
• (UK) IPA^(key): /???st/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??st/
• Rhymes: -??(?)st

Noun

thirst (countable and uncountable, plural thirsts)

1. A sensation of dryness in the throat associated with a craving for liquids, produced by deprivation of drink, or by some other cause (such as fear, excitement, etc.) which spots the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane
2. The condition producing the sensation of thirst.
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV

     "We haven't one chance for life in a hundred thousand if we don't find food and water upon Caprona. This water coming out of the cliff is not salt; but neither is it fit to drink, though each of us has drunk. It is fair to assume that inland the river is fed by pure streams, that there are fruits and herbs and game. Shall we lie out here and die of thirst and starvation with a land of plenty possibly only a few hundred yards away? We have the means for navigating a subterranean river. Are we too cowardly to utilize this means?"

3. (figuratively) A want and eager desire (for something); a craving or longing.

   a thirst for gold

4. (slang) sexual lust

Synonyms

• (figuratively): craving, longing

Derived terms

• bloodthirst
• thirst-quenching
• thirsty

Translations

See also

• hunger

Verb

thirst (third-person singular simple present thirsts, present participle thirsting, simple past and past participle thirsted)

1. (intransitive) To be thirsty.

   • The people thirsted there for water.

2. (intransitive, usually followed by "for") To desire vehemently.

   • My soul thirsteth for […] the living God.

   • Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Translations

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• T-shirt, t-shirt, thrist

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