scab

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a dry crust of blood and tissue that forms over a wound while it heals

   A protective scab formed over the shallow cut.

2. 2
   noun

   a rough crust-like lesion caused by a plant or animal disease

   The apple developed dark patches of scab on its skin.

3. 3
   noun

   strongly disapproving: a person who works during a strike or takes the place of a striking worker

   Union members called the replacement worker a scab.

4. 4
   verb

   to form a scab or become covered with scabs

   The abrasion began to scab after two days.

5. 5
   verb

   strongly disapproving: to work as a strikebreaker

   The union accused the contractors of hiring outsiders to scab during the dispute.

Simplified etymology

Scab came from Old Norse and ultimately from a Germanic root meaning “itch.” Its late 16th-century sense “contemptible person” was probably influenced by Middle Dutch schabbe, “slut,” and from the mid-18th century it was used in the United States for a strikebreaker.

From Middle English scabbe, Old English sceabb, and Old Norse skabb, from a Germanic word for a crusted skin disease. The labor insult arose in the nineteenth century by comparing a strikebreaker to something diseased or contemptible.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary