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onychophagia

American  
[on-i-koh-fey-juh, -jee-uh] / ˌɒn ɪ koʊˈfeɪ dʒə, -dʒi ə /

noun

Psychiatry.

  1. the practice of biting one's nails, especially when done habitually and as a symptom of emotional disturbance.

Other Word Forms

  • onychophagist noun

Etymology

Origin of onychophagia

1895–1900; < Greek onycho- (combining form of ónyx nail, claw; onyx ) + -phagia

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.