aichmo-, aichm- +

Fortune-telling by using sharp-pointed objects: At the birthday party the grown-ups played aichmomancy by using pins, needles, knives, etc. that were dropped on a flat surface, like the floor, and then the patterns they made were interpreted.

A morbid obsession of pointed objects: A person who is suffering from aichmomania perhaps has a desire to be punctured, perforated, or pierced with pointed tools, especially with knives.

1. An excessive fright of pointed objects, such as knives, nails, and forks: Symptoms of aichmophobia may lead to unusual eating habits, such as eating alone or without silverware, or to the selection of an occupation in which the phobic person will not have to see or use dangerous implements or their symbolic equivalents.

A person who has aichmophobia also has a morbid distrust of being touched by pointed objects, such as the finger or other sharp or slender-pointed objects.

2. Etymology: from Greek aikhme, "spear" or "javelin" + phobia, "irrational fear", or "terror".

An abnormal horror of being beaten with a pointed stick: Alfred had a terrible dream once that an old and dangerous man wanted to hit him over and over again with a cane which had a very sharp end, and after waking up the following morning, he looked in his psychology book and found out that such a dreadful thought could be a result of aichmorhabdophobia.