Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Scab?

\Scab\, n. (Bot.) Any one of various more or less destructive fungus diseases attacking cultivated plants, and usually forming dark-colored crustlike spots.
\Scab\ (sk[a^]b), n. [OE. scab, scabbe, shabbe; cf. AS. sc[ae]b, sceabb, scebb, Dan. & Sw. skab, and also L. scabies, fr. scabere to scratch, akin to E. shave. See {Shave}, and cf. {Shab}, {Shabby}.] 1. An incrustation over a sore, wound, vesicle, or pustule, formed by the drying up of the discharge from the diseased part. 2. The itch in man; also, the scurvy. [Colloq. or Obs.] 3. The mange, esp. when it appears on sheep. --Chaucer. 4. A disease of potatoes producing pits in their surface, caused by a minute fungus ({Tiburcinia Scabies}). 5. (Founding) A slight irregular protuberance which defaces the surface of a casting, caused by the breaking away of a part of the mold. 6. A mean, dirty, paltry fellow. [Low] --Shak. 7. A nickname for a workman who engages for lower wages than are fixed by the trades unions; also, for one who takes the place of a workman on a strike. [Cant]
\Scab\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Scabbed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scabbing}.] To become covered with a scab; as, the wound scabbed over.