CHIGGER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chigger mean? 

• CHIGGER (noun)
  The noun CHIGGER has 2 senses:

1. small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans

2. larval mite that sucks the blood of vertebrates including human beings causing intense irritation

  Familiarity information: CHIGGER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHIGGER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

chigger; chigoe; chigoe flea; Tunga penetrans

Hypernyms ("chigger" is a kind of...):

flea (any wingless bloodsucking parasitic insect noted for ability to leap)

Holonyms ("chigger" is a member of...):

genus Tunga; Tunga (a genus of Siphonaptera)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Larval mite that sucks the blood of vertebrates including human beings causing intense irritation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

chigger; harvest mite; jigger; redbug

Hypernyms ("chigger" is a kind of...):

trombiculid (mite that as nymph and adult feeds on early stages of small arthropods but whose larvae are parasitic on terrestrial vertebrates)

Holonyms ("chigger" is a member of...):

genus Trombicula; Trombicula (type genus of the family Trombiculidae)