mite

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈmīt 

: any of numerous small acarid arachnids that often infest animals, plants, and stored foods and include important disease vectors

mite

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

: a small coin or sum of money

2

a

: a very little : bit

b

: a very small object or creature

Phrases

a mite

: somewhat, rather

could be that I am a mite prejudiced

—John Fischer

Synonyms

Noun (2)

• chicken feed [slang]
• chump change
• dime
• hay
• peanuts
• pin money
• pittance
• shoestring
• song
• two cents

Examples of mite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Childhood Conditions Parents Don't Talk About Scabies Scabies is a skin infection caused by the itch mite. —Parents Editors, Parents, 3 Sep. 2023

Cyclamen mites are practically microscopic, but can distort foliage by sucking juice from leaves and stems. —Steve Bender, Southern Living, 15 Aug. 2023

Key Takeaways Dust mites are tiny pests that feed on dead skin cells from humans and pets. —Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 11 July 2023

This is quite unlike many other types of mites, like lice or bedbugs. —Christin Perry, Parents, 10 Aug. 2023

Repellent can also help, as can treating your yard with acaricides — a type of pesticide focused on ticks and mites. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 6 Oct. 2023

Wood said an increase in ticks, fleas and mites can lead to an increase in diseases transmitted by the bloodsucking insects, such as Lyme disease. —John Kelly, Washington Post, 4 Oct. 2023

In 1992, an ectoparasitic mite called Varroa destructor, which had jumped from an Asian honeybee to the Western one sometime in the fifties, emerged in Britain and killed untold millions of bees. —Sam Knight, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023

The population is largely healthy, though the Yellowstone wolves have suffered from diseases like distemper and a skin infection known as sarcoptic mange, which is transmitted by mites. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English mīte; akin to Middle Dutch mite mite, small copper coin

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Middle French or Middle Dutch; Middle French, small Flemish copper coin, from Middle Dutch

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mite

• gall mite
• two-spotted spider mite
• rust mite
• dust mite
• a mite
• harvest mite
• house dust mite
• follicle mite
• varroa mite
• mighty mite
• European red mite
• citrus red mite
• red mite
• spider mite

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• gall mite
• two-spotted spider mite
• rust mite
• dust mite
• a mite
• harvest mite
• house dust mite
• follicle mite
• varroa mite
• mighty mite
• European red mite
• citrus red mite
• red mite
• spider mite

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Kids Definition

mite

noun

ˈmīt

1

: any of various invertebrates that are tiny arachnids closely related to the ticks, that often live on plants, animals, and stored foods, and that include important carriers of disease

2

: a very small coin or sum of money

3

a

: a very little amount : bit

b

: a very small object or creature

Medical Definition

mite

noun

ˈmīt 

: any of numerous small to very minute arachnids of the order Acari that have a body without a constriction between the cephalothorax and abdomen, mandibles generally chelate or adapted for piercing, usually four pairs of short legs in the adult and but three in the young larvae, and often breathing organs in the form of tracheae and that include parasites of insects and vertebrates some of which are important disease vectors, parasites of plants in which they frequently cause gall formation, pests of various stored products, and completely innocuous free-living aquatic and terrestrial forms see itch mite