Chigger

//ˈt͡ʃɪɡɚ// noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A chigoe (Tunga penetrans), a kind of flea found in tropical climates.
  2. 2
    An East Asian person who behaves in ways similar to a stereotypical urban African American. US, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur

    "—He's not black, Stacia Jacobs who smelled like pee said. — He's yellow and black. He's a chigger. Do you know what a chigger is? It's a chink and a nigger."

  3. 3
    larval mite that sucks the blood of vertebrates including human beings causing intense irritation wordnet
  4. 4
    A harvest mite (Trombiculidae spp.), a very small, red mite endemic to the Midwestern and Southeastern US, the infestation of which causes intense itching.

    "Dr. Lareau, an emergency medicine physician at Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital in Virginia, had seen these marks once or twice before on patients. She knew what had caused them. They were from chiggers, a species of tiny, reddish-brown mites able to leave bites that remain itchy for days or weeks."

  5. 5
    small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From chigoe, likely from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô.

Etymology 2

Blend of chink + nigger.

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