chigger

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪɡɚ/

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɪɡə(ɹ)

From chigoe, likely from a Cariban language term such as Kari'na siko (“chigoe”) (early recorded variant chico), from Proto-Cariban *tikô.

chigger (plural chiggers)

1. A chigoe (Tunga penetrans), a kind of flea found in tropical climates.
2. A harvest mite (Trombiculidae spp.), a very small, red mite endemic to the Midwestern and Southeastern US, the infestation of which causes intense itching.

• (mite): harvest mite

• chigger weed (Anthemis cotula)

Blend of chink +‎ nigger

chigger (plural chiggers)

1. (US, slang, derogatory, offensive) An East Asian person who behaves in ways similar to a stereotypical urban African American.
   • 2007, James Boice, MVP: A Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 37:

     —He's not black, Stacia Jacobs who smelled like pee said. — He's yellow and black. He's a chigger. Do you know what a chigger is? It's a chink and a nigger.

• chigga