scabies

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a contagious skin infestation caused by itch mites that burrow into the outer skin, producing intense itching and a pimple-like rash

   The clinician recognized scabies from the itching and thin burrows between the patient's fingers.

From Latin scabies ("roughness, scurf, itch"), from scabere ("to scratch"). The name predates identification of the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, whose burrowing causes the characteristic itching.

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