To itch his own

[Pierre Abbat]

The winner is David Bhatnagar, with seven points.

I actually picked this word intending to scratch it. The OED indicates that 
it is known to crossword-puzzle buffs, of which I figured there would be some 
among us.

phma
---acnestis, n. White glass.
by David Randall. 7
Linda: One point also for the shortest def.
Aussie: This is bold. Two points.
Joe: 1 point for the Stunning In Its Simplicity award.
J-J: Two points.
Hutch: Just innocuous enough to be possibly true: 1 point.

acnestis, n. The use of gestures or facial expressions as linguistic elements.
by Ranjit Bhatnagar. 7
James: 2
Fran: 1 point
MyS: 2 points to gestures and linguistics, though Elliott would probably have 
known it were it true
Elliott: Done all the time in sign languages, so I suppose this means mixing 
sign and spoken languages?  (E.g., marking the past tense by looking over 
your shoulder instead of saying "-ed" or whatever.)
Hutch: Another in the case of "there oughta be such a word": 2 points.

acnestis, n. Discomfort caused by removal to unfamiliar surroundings.
by Eric. 6
Linda: Banishment must be horrid, 1 point
Fran: Honorable mention: being out of the nest, hee hee
Ranjit: 2 pts
J-J: One point.
MyS: 1 to the discomfort caused by removal to unfamiliar surroundings.
Elliott: This needs a word, but "acnestis" ain't it.  One point.  Jean-Joseph?

acnestis, n. In ancient Greek theater, a catalyzing event occurring outside 
of the time span of the play.
by Melissa Shaner. 5
Linda: You mean like a war causing suffering afterwards? Like in The Trojan 
Women?
James: 1
Fran: 2 points
David: 2 points
J-J: Ah, which of the usual suspects could this be?  Elliott, maybe?

acnestis, n. A sexual practice exhibited by some species of beetle in which 
males attempt to mate with other males, puncturing the victim's abdominal 
cavity. The sperm introduced mingles with that of the victim, so that when 
the victim later mates with a female, a mixture of sperm fertilizes the eggs. 
With multiple occasions of this practice, the paternity of the offspring 
becomes essentially random.
by Jean-Joseph Cote. 4
Linda: No wonder it's a wise child who knows his father
Aussie: I doubt if this is a biologically sound tactic, even for beetles, but 
it's pretty good.  One point.
David: 1 point
J-J: This actually happens by the way, though I can't remember which kind of 
beetle it is, and it's not called acnestis (I don't know if there's a name 
for the practice, to be honest).
Pierre: Bedbugs.
Elliott: Very clever. Two points. Amy?
Hutch: I just don't believe it. TOO wierd!

acnestis, n. An intermediate destination on a journey broken into multiple 
legs.
by Joe Robins. 3
2 points, one for itch
Linda: In the recent cartoon Zits, a sentence is broken into multiple legs, 
each ending with a quotation mark.  I hope it doesn't catch on the way 
ValleyGirlSpeak did.
Ranjit: 1 pt

acnestis, n. The part of the back you can't scratch.
the real def. 2
Joe: 2 points for the There Should Be A Word For This award.

acnestis, n. Occupational catarrh commonly known as "shepherd's cough".
by Aussie Meyer. 1
Linda: It's rainy out, so I will give this 1 point, also. (If I have a 
farm-related cough, it's from horse, goats, cats, dog, or poultry.)
J-J: While cleaning my apartment recently, I found a slip of paper on which I 
had written a few words I had encountered several years ago that I thought 
might be fictionary candidates.  One of the words was "catarrh", which I 
later realized is actually a commonly known word, but ya gotta love a word 
that ends in -rrh (I believe I know only one other).
MyS: Bonus points to the term "occupational catarrh."  Apparently workers in 
popcorn factories get that, too, because of the "butter."
Elliott: I would have guessed Eric, except I think Eric would have put a 
comma after "catarrh".
Hutch: So that's what I've been having for the past three weeks. I'm coughing 
up shepherds?

acnestis, adj. Of an eruption, out-welling, over-flowing.
by Jeff Hutchinson. 0
Linda: Nice, but I won't bite.
J-J: Like when you pop a zit?  Eeuuw.

acnestis, n. (Dram.) The feeling of emotional purification evoked in an 
audience by the realization that two ostensibly different characters are in 
fact the same person.
by Elliott Moreton. 0
Linda: I'm not sure that "aha" rates as emotional purification.

acnestis, n. The state of refusing to lay eggs in your own nest, as a cowbird 
or cuckoo. Also, describes the condition of promiscuous humans.
by Linda Owens. 0
Elliott: Oooh, brown-headed cowbirds!  Evil!  Anathema!
Hutch: One can dream, can't one?

General comments:
Linda: Hope you don't mind that I split my def points into thirds. None of 
them grabbed my that much, although they were all interesting. Kept away from 
the drama defs, though.
Ranjit: i'm in a traveling mood today
MyS: This round rates high on the plausibility scale.
Elliott: What a great selection!