scab

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“
The uncompromising and terrible hatred of the trade-unionist for a scab is the hatred of a class for a traitor to that class,--while the hatred of a trade-unionist for the militia is the hatred of a class for a weapon wielded by the class with which it is fighting.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun A crust discharged from and covering a healing wound.
  2. noun Scabies or mange in domestic animals or livestock, especially sheep.
  3. noun Any of various plant diseases caused by fungi or bacteria and resulting in crustlike spots on fruit, leaves, or roots.
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Examples (50)

  • Chances are that when most of us hear the word scab , we think of its most common sense, that of "the crust that forms on top of a wound." —  The Word Detective
  • Although any doctor will tell you that a scab is a good thing, since it protects a wound while it is healing, by about 1590 we were using scab to mean "a low or despicable person." —  The Word Detective
  • Since scab was already being used to mean "lowlife creep," it's not surprising that by the late eighteenth century it was being applied to any worker who refused to join (or actively subverted) an organized trade union movement. —  The Word Detective
  • Lacey returned to the scab, and Sara watched as she picked it until it started to bleed. —  Karin Slaughter - Kisscut
  • His copper fur was sleek and bright, unmarred by so much as a scab or a smudge of dirt. —  Ann Maxwell - Fire Dancer 2 - Dancer's Luck (v1.0)
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This word has been looked up 159 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old Norse skabb.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English scab, scabbe, also assibilated shab (the form scab being rather due to Scandinavian), from Anglo-Saxon scæb, sceb, sceabb, scab, itch, = Middle Dutch schabbe = Old High German scaba, scapā, Middle High German G. schabe, scab, itch, = Swedish skabb = Danish skab, scab, itch; either directly from Latin scabies, roughness, scurf, scab, itch, mange (cf. scaber, rough, scurfy, scabby), from scabere, scratch; or from the Teutonic verb cognate with the L., namely, Anglo-Saxon scafan = German schaben, etc., shave: see shave. Cf. shab, an assibilated form of scab.
  2. from scab, n.
 

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/skæb/
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