matchbox sign

noun

The characteristic situation where a patient with delusional parasitosis presents the doctor with a collection of fibers or other foreign objects supposedly retrieved from the skin.

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Meanings

nounmatchbox sign (uncountable)
  1. uncountablemedicineThe characteristic situation where a patient with delusional parasitosis presents the doctor with a collection of fibers or other foreign objects supposedly retrieved from the skin.

Origin

So called because a matchbox can be used as a container for small objects.

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Cite this entry
APA

matchbox sign. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matchbox%20sign

MLA

“matchbox sign.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matchbox%20sign. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “matchbox sign,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/matchbox%20sign.

Source: matchbox sign on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.