chigger

[ chig-er ]

/ ˈtʃɪg ər /

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noun

Also called harvest mite, redbug. the six-legged larva of a mite of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on humans and other vertebrates, sucking blood and causing severe itching and acting as a vector of scrub typhus and other infectious diseases.

chigoe.

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Also jigger.

Origin of chigger

1735–45, Americanism; variant of chigoe

Words nearby chigger

chiffonnière, chifforobe, Chifley, chigetai, chigga, chigger, chignon, chigoe, Chigwell, Chihli, Chihuahua

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chigger in a sentence

The body spray is made with 20 percent picaridin and protects you against mosquitos, ticks, gnats, chiggers, sand flies, biting flies, and no-see-ums for eight to twelve hours.
How to Keep Things from Biting You This Summer|aweinberg|August 14, 2021|Outside Online
While Suah does not know with certainty which bug is causing his patients so much distress, he said they are similar in appearance to bites from chiggers or oak mites.
Oak-mite bites: Cicadas may have left D.C. region an itchy gift|Ellie Silverman|July 30, 2021|Washington Post
Loomis in his study of the chigger mites of Kansas examined many of the racers captured in the early years of my field work.
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor|Henry S. Fitch
The racer is an important host of the common pest chigger, Trombicula alfreddugsi, which often attacks humans.
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor|Henry S. Fitch

Four species of the chigger genus Trombicula have been recorded on racers from the Reservation.
Natural History of the Racer Coluber constrictor|Henry S. Fitch
It is a host and carrier of various parasites, including at least one species that regularly attacks humans—the common chigger.
Life History and Ecology of the Five-lined Skink, Eumeces fasciatus|Henry S. Fitch
What was most aggravating were two pests of that region, the seed-tick and the chigger.
Tenting on the Plains|Elizabeth B. Custer

British Dictionary definitions for chigger

chigger

/ (ˈtʃɪɡə) /

noun

Also called: chigoe, redbug US and Canadian the parasitic larva of any of various free-living mites of the family Trombidiidae, which causes intense itching of human skin

another name for the chigoe (def. 1)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012