Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of a number of contagious skin diseases caused by several related fungi, characterized by ring-shaped, scaly, itching patches on the skin and generally classified by the location on the body.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A milleped of the genus Julus in a broad sense: so called from the way it curls up in a ring.
  • noun A name sometimes given to certain dermatophytic diseases. See tinea and favus.

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

  • noun (Med.) A contagious affection of the skin due to the presence of a vegetable parasite, and forming ring-shaped discolored patches covered with vesicles or powdery scales. It occurs either on the body, the face, or the scalp. Different varieties are distinguished as Tinea circinata, Tinea tonsurans, etc., but all are caused by the same parasite (a species of Trichophyton).

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

  • noun A contagious fungal affliction of the skin, characterised by ring-shaped discoloured patches, covered by vesicles or scales.

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

  • noun infections of the skin or nails caused by fungi and appearing as itching circular patches

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From ring +‎ worm, being descriptive of what it looks like.

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Examples

  • Why it is called ringworm is because as it grows bigger, the ones in the middle of the rash die, and forms a ring, thus called ringworm.

    jaimewolf Diary Entry jaimewolf 2004

  • DESCRIPTION: Athlete's foot is an infection by a form of ringworm, which is not a worm at all but a fungus.

    THE NATURAL REMEDY BIBLE JOHN LUST 2003

  • Tinea Unguis-Commonly known as ringworm, this condition results in nail deformities and thickening.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • Tinea Unguis-Commonly known as ringworm, this condition results in nail deformities and thickening.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • Tinea Unguis-Commonly known as ringworm, this condition results in nail deformities and thickening.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • Thought you might like to know, i've stumbled across two other unsettling algorithmic hiccups: searching for "11-year-olds" gets you ebay ads for children, and searching for "ringworm" results in "sexy ringworm singles." i've got screenshots of each on my blog: one, two.

    Boing Boing: December 19, 2004 - December 25, 2004 Archives 2004

  • Some skin problems are caused by diseases or irritations that affect the skin only - such as ringworm, diaper rash, or warts.

    Chapter 22 1993

  • · Epidermophyton - a "ringworm" that invades both skin and nails of the feet;

    7 Medicinals 1992

  • In Gotha the plant is valued for curing chronic skin diseases, particularly of a fungoid character, such as ringworm; also for diseases of cattle.

    Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure William Thomas Fernie

  • Rehman refers to him as Joe Baker, the bastard, (Joe Baker is his nickname - Abu says it has some connection with the word for "ringworm" in Malay) and talks about how he was a total bully as rugby captain making him run several laps of the sports field for showing up late for rugby practice.

    Archive 2005-03-01 Sharon Bakar 2005

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