scab

Definition

An incrustation over a sore, wound, vesicle, or pustule, formed during healing.

Etymology

From Middle English scabb, scabbe (also as shabbe, schabbe > English shab), from Old English sċeabb and Old Norse skabb, both from Proto-Germanic *skabbaz (“scab, scabies”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, carve, shape”). Doublet of shab. Cognate with German Schabe (“scabies”), Danish skab (“scab, scabies”), Swedish skabb (“scab, scabies”), Latin scabies (“scab, itch, mange”). Related also to Old English scafan (“to scrape, shave”), Latin scabere (“to scratch”), English shabby.

Example Sentences

• "Scab was the terror of the sheep farmer, and the peril of his calling."
• "Out, scab!"
• "I would make thee the / loathsomest scab in Greece."

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