swimmer's itch
- noun
- /ˈswɪmɚz ɪtʃ/
:
picazón del nadador
- After swimming in the lake, James developed a severe case of swimmer's itch on his legs.
Examples
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Children are especially susceptible to swimmer's itch when playing in shallow, warm water.
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I got a bad case of swimmer's itch after swimming in the lake.
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Public health officials posted warnings to prevent swimmer's itch outbreaks at local beaches.
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Have you ever had swimmer's itch from a beach?
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After swimming in the lake, I developed swimmer's itch, which made my skin very uncomfortable.
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Many children experience swimmer's itch after playing in the pond during the summer.
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To avoid swimmer's itch, it is best to rinse off with fresh water after swimming in infested areas.
Synonyms
A skin rash with itchy red bumps after contact with water containing tiny parasites, also called swimmer's itch
An itchy skin rash with raised red bumps often from an allergy
Itchy skin reaction that makes raised pale spots with red edges after contact with certain plants or other allergens
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
swimmer's + itch
The phrase is directly compositional: 'swimmer's' relates to someone who swims and 'itch' denotes a skin irritation, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer an itch associated with swimming (i.e., an itch swimmers get or get after swimming). The possessive+symptom pattern is common in English (e.g., 'runner's knee'), so while they might not know the precise medical cause, the basic meaning is immediately derivable from the parts.
Etymology
Swimmer's itch comes from tiny creatures in the water that can get into a person's skin after swimming and cause an itchy rash. So the name links swimmer, meaning a person in the water, and itch, the skin problem they get after a swim.