chigoe

[ chig-oh ]

/ ˈtʃɪg oʊ /

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noun

a flea, Tunga penetrans, of tropical America and Africa, the impregnated female of which embeds itself in the skin, especially of the feet, of humans and animals and becomes greatly distended with eggs.

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Also called chigoe flea, chigger, jigger, sand flea .

Origin of chigoe

Borrowed into English from Carib around 1685–95

Words nearby chigoe

Chifley, chigetai, chigga, chigger, chignon, chigoe, Chigwell, Chihli, Chihuahua, Chikamatsu, chi kung

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

How to use chigoe in a sentence

It is like the red "chigoe" which inserts his tiny head in the flesh and burrows until he causes a throbbing fester.
The Secret of a Happy Home (1896)|Marion Harland
Sarcopsylla, sr-kop-sil′a, n. a genus of American insects, including the jigger or chigoe.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various
One of the most important of these is the jigger-flea or chigoe (Dermatophilus penetrans, Fig. 33).
Insects and Diseases|Rennie W. Doane
Occasionally a gorilla or a chimpanzee may get a chigoe in its toe.
The Flea|Harold Russell

The chigoe (Dermatophilus penetrans) is a native originally of South America.
The Flea|Harold Russell

British Dictionary definitions for chigoe

chigoe

/ (ˈtʃɪɡəʊ) /

noun

Also called: chigger, jigger, sand flea a tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, the female of which lives on or burrows into the skin of its host, which includes man

another name for chigger (def. 1)

Word Origin for chigoe

C17: from Carib chigo

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