chilblain
- noun
- /ˈtʃɪlˌbleɪn/
- UK
- In wintertime, her red hands were disfigured by chilblains.
Examples
-
"I look at Rosa's swollen hands, disfigured by chilblains, and caress them with my eyes."
Fiction book (1996) -
After being outside in the snow, he complained about the painful chilblains on his toes.
-
The old Queen Mary has got chilblains or something.
-
"I get those damn chilblains," said Frank.
Fiction book (1996) -
"You get chilblains," I said, surprised.
Fiction book (1996) -
Let me thaw out my poor old chilblains.
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How do you expect me to do copper-plate with chilblains?
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She had learned to see her body as a gift, not an encumbrance, full of aches and blisters in the summer, and chilblains in the winter.
Fiction book (1991) -
And I nearly forgot to mention that one other symptom my illness has been demonstrating for the past couple of years has been my chilblains, which my GP incorrectly assumed to be Raynaud's disease.
Blog text (2) -
Both students and faculty members are wearing academic regalia whose cultural antecedents date from medieval times and colder climes, when European colleges were often poorly heated and chilblains were common.
Academic text (2016)
Synonyms
Swollen red skin on fingers or toes after cold, wet weather
A painful sore on the heel caused by cold or rubbing
A painful swollen sore on the skin often caused by cold or injury
Antonyms
How Severe
- Specialized
30
4.4
- UK
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word chilblain comes from two older parts: chill meaning 'cold' and blain meaning 'blister'. So a chilblain is literally a 'cold blister', which explains why it is a painful, itchy swelling after being in cold, wet weather.