- Scab
- Scab 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.
[1913 Webster]
2. The itch in man; also, the scurvy. [Colloq. or Obs.] [1913 Webster]
3. The mange, esp. when it appears on sheep. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
4. A disease of potatoes producing pits in their surface, caused by a minute fungus ({Tiburcinia Scabies}). [1913 Webster]
5. (Founding) A slight irregular protuberance which defaces the surface of a casting, caused by the breaking away of a part of the mold. [1913 Webster]
6. A mean, dirty, paltry fellow. [Low] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
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] [1913 Webster]
8. (Bot.) Any one of various more or less destructive fungus diseases attacking cultivated plants, and usually forming dark-colored crustlike spots. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.