bête rouge
English
editEtymology
editFrom French bête rouge (literally “red beast”).
Noun
editbête rouge (plural bêtes rouges)
- A mite of the genus Trombidium.
- 1934, Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust:
- He had picked up bêtes rouges in the bush and they were crawling and burrowing under his skin.
- 1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 137:
- ‘The rashes on his legs and arms are bêtes rouges, and we can get rid of them with ammonia and zinc ointment.’
Further reading
edit- Trombidium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia