chigoe

Meanings

Plural: chigoes

Noun

small tropical flea; the fertile female burrows under the skin of the host including humans
A small tropical flea, Tunga penetrans, whose females burrow under the skin of animals, including humans, and lay their eggs, causing strong irritation and sores.

Origin / Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô, or else a West African borrowing such as Wolof or Yoruba jiga (“insect”). The eighteenth century historian Charlevoix refers to them as chique in his 1730 history of Hispaniola.

Synonyms

chegoe, chegre, chigger, chigoe flea, chigre, chique, djigga, jigger, Tunga penetrans

Scrabble Score: 12

chigoe is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
chigoe is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
chigoe is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

chigoe is a valid Words With Friends word