Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
ITCHING
itch, itchiness, itching
(noun) an irritating cutaneous sensation that produces a desire to scratch
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
itching
present participle of itch
Etymology 2
Noun
itching (plural itchings)
A sensation that itches.
Source: Wiktionary
ITCH
Itch, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Itched; p. pr. & vb. n. Itching.] Etym: [OE. icchen, , AS. giccan; akin to D. jeuken, joken, G. jucken, OHG. jucchen.]
1. To have an uneasy sensation in the skin, which inclines the person to scratch the part affected. My mouth hath itched all this long day. Chaucer.
2. To have a constant desire or teasing uneasiness; to long for; as, itching ears. "An itching palm." Shak.
Itch, n.
1. (Med.)
Definition: An eruption of small, isolated, acuminated vesicles, produced by the entrance of a parasitic mite (the Sarcoptes scabei), and attended with itching. It is transmissible by contact.
2. Any itching eruption.
3. A sensation in the skin occasioned (or resembling that occasioned) by the itch eruption; -- called also scabies, psora, etc.
4. A constant irritating desire. An itch of being thought a divine king. Dryden. Baker's itch. See under Baker.
– Barber's itch, sycosis.
– Bricklayer's itch, an eczema of the hands attended with much itching, occurring among bricklayers.
– Grocer's itch, an itching eruption, being a variety of eczema, produced by the sugar mite (Tyrogluphus sacchari).
– Itch insect (Zoöl.), a small parasitic mite (Sarcoptes scabei) which burrows and breeds beneath the human skin, thus causing the disease known as the itch. See Illust. in Append.
– Itch mite. (Zoöl.) Same as Itch insect, above. Also, other similar mites affecting the lower animals, as the horse and ox.
– Sugar baker's itch, a variety of eczema, due to the action of sugar upon the skin.
– Washerwoman's itch, eczema of the hands and arms, occurring among washerwomen.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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MALLET
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