Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In pathology, an abnormal subjective sensation, referred to the skin, resembling the feeling of ants creeping over the body.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) A sensation resembling that made by the creeping of ants on the skin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An abnormal skin sensation similar to that of insects crawling over or within the skin; a tactile hallucination involving such a sensation. A common side-effect of substance abuse, it can also be experienced with high fever, menopause, skin cancer, diabetic neuropathy, or herpes zoster.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun hallucinated sensation that insects or snakes are crawling over the skin; a common side-effect of extensive use of cocaine or amphetamines

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

c. 1700, From Latin formica (ant) + -tion.

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Examples

Comments

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  • how disturbing that there's a word for it ...

    April 3, 2008

  • Thou shalt not formicate.

    April 3, 2008

  • The mathematician was charged by the judge with five counts of formication, and two counts of bad taste.

    August 15, 2008