dew sore n S Midl Cf dew poison n
A sore or rash on the feet or legs attributed to dew.
1887 AR Democrat (Little Rock) [15 July 3]/1, The Wheel-Enterprise will . . publish the speech delivered by Rev. Isom P. Langley . . on the 4th. . . [B]e sure to illustrate it. 1. Isom as a boy trotting out to drive up the calves of mornings with dew-sores on his shins. 1891 Practice 5.158 ceVA, Recently I was asked to see a seven-years-old child with what the father said was a “dew sore” on his leg. The limb was swollen from the ankle to the knee, with three open sores discharging pus and surrounded by those peculiar granulations that are familiar to us as overlying diseased bone. 1905 Century Illustr. Mag. 70.234 GA, Hit took friendly swearin’ to git Silas in line for er pension, but what with a dew-sore on his leg an’ er chill or two, . . we got him th’ough. 1908 Med. Assoc. AL Trans. 477, These young worms, barely visible to the naked eye, enter man either through the mouth, or probably more commonly through the skin, producing that condition known as “ground itch,” “dew itch,” “dew poison,” “dew sores,” “toe itch,” or “foot itch.” 1931 News (Lynchburg VA) 3 Nov 4/1, [Advt:] Use Curen for Itch, Eczema, Tetter, Athlete’s Foot, Impetigo (Dew Sores), Insect bites and pimples. 1981 Mebane Mary 19 cnNC, My legs already had two of the biggest dew sores in the crowd [of children]. . . (Dew sores were tiny scratches or insect bites that were aggravated if early-morning dew got into them. The dew would keep any sore fresh and could make a new one out of the tiniest scratch.) 1981 DARE File ceKY (as of c1930), From the old notion that dew and night air can be poisonous (actually caused by walking barefoot on sawgrass or otherwise cutting the legs and starting an infection). . . “The jewelweed was good to cure dew sores.” 1988 Chapel Hill Herald (NC) 29 July 6/1, Impetigo, as we all know, is that oozing, yellow skin infection caused by staphylococci and streptococci bacteria. Popularly known as “dew sores” or “infantigo,” it is most common in hot weather and afflicts children much more than adults.