bête rouge

English

Etymology

From French bête rouge (literally “red beast”).

Noun

bête rouge (plural bêtes rouges)

  1. 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
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