Skip to main content
athlete's foot

athlete's foot

8 2.9
An infection on the feet, often between the toes, caused by a fungus that makes the skin itch and peel
  • noun
  • /ˈæθlitɪz fʊt/
translation icon : pie de atleta
  • Athlete's foot, also known as Tinea Pedis, is a common fungal infection that occurs mainly in warmer weather when feet are more likely to be sweaty and moist.
  • a case of athlete's foot
  • athlete's foot fungus
  • athlete's foot infection

Examples

  • Anybody can get Tinea Pedis or Athlete's foot.

    Blog text (19)
  • This weather up here really plays hell with my athlete's foot.

  • A common sign of athlete's foot is itchy skin between the toes.

  • If you have athlete's foot, you might notice scaling and redness on your feet.

  • Many people get athlete's foot from walking on damp floors in public places.

Synonyms

fungal infection
vsathlete's foot
  • Specialized
5 3.1

An illness a fungus causes in the body, often on the skin or nails

is limited to the feet especially the skin between toes
tinea pedis
vsathlete's foot
  • Specialized
5.6

A skin infection on the feet that a fungus causes, often between the toes

is the common everyday name rather than the formal medical term
dermatomycosis
vsathlete's foot
  • Specialized
9.9

A skin infection caused by a fungus, often in warm, wet areas under clothing

is focused on infections of the feet particularly between toes

Surface Forms

athlete's foot singular

Morphology

athlete's + foot

The phrase transparently combines 'athlete's' + 'foot', so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer it denotes a foot problem associated with athletes (this compositional logic is common cross-linguistically). However the specific conventional meaning — a fungal infection of the skin between the toes — is a lexicalized medical sense that is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Athlete's foot comes from the idea that athletes often got a skin problem on their feet because they used wet, crowded showers and shared shoes. The warm, wet places let a fungus spread, so the name now means 'a fungal infection of the skin on the feet'.