Scab

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /skæb/

Definitions

1. A crusty layer of dried blood that forms over a wound during the healing process
2. A hardened deposit that forms to protect healing skin after an injury ; a person who works despite an ongoing strike ; a fungal disease causing spots on plants
3. A dry crust formed by coagulated blood over a healing cut ; an individual crossing picket lines to continue work amid labor disputes ; a type of parasitic fungus affecting agricultural crops

Etymology: Long before it meant a crust on a wound, the root behind "scab" meant to cut, split or carve. The Proto-Indo-European base *skabʰ- carried that sense, and it passed into the Germanic languages as a word for a scrape or scratch on the skin. Old English had "sċeabb" and Old Norse "skabb," both descended from the same Proto-Germanic form, and the English word arrived in Middle English as "scabb" and "scabbe." The word is closely tied to the verb "to scrape." Old English "scafan" meant to scrape or shave, and Latin "scabere" meant to scratch. Latin "scabies," the name for mange and itch, belongs to the same family, and the German "Schabe" still means scabies. English "shabby" comes from the same root, as does "shab," a doublet of "scab" that survives in older English.

Synonyms: crust, scabbed area

Antonyms: healing