scab
To become covered by a scab or scabsTo become covered by a scab or scabs.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Translations
3 languagesMeaning
5 senses(intransitive)To become covered by a scab or scabs.
(Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal, transitive)To beg (for), to cadge or bum.
I scabbed some money off a friend.
(intransitive)To form into scabs and be shed, as damaged or diseased skin.
More meanings 2
(transitive)To remove part of a surface (from).
(intransitive)To act as a strikebreaker.
- form a scab
- take the place of work of someone on strike
Origin
From Middle English scabb, scabbe (also as shabbe, schabbe > English shab), from Old EngliFrom 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
scabs, scabbing, scabbed, scabbedTenses
scab · scabbed · will scab · have scabbedSynonyms
3 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.