scab
Americannoun
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scabs
plural
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the incrustation that forms over a sore or wound during healing.
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Veterinary Pathology. a mangy disease in animals, especially sheep; scabies.
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Plant Pathology.
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a disease of plants characterized by crustlike lesions on the affected parts and caused by a fungus or bacterium.
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one of these crustlike lesions.
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a worker who refuses to join a labor union or to participate in a union strike, who takes a striking worker's place on the job, or the like.
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Slang. a rascal or scoundrel.
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Metallurgy.
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a projection or roughness on an ingot or casting from a defective mold.
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a surface defect on an iron or steel piece resulting from the rolling in of scale.
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Carpentry. a short, flat piece of wood used for various purposes, as binding two timbers butted together or strengthening a timber at a weak spot.
verb (used without object)
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scabs,
present (3rd person singular)
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scabbed,
past participle, past
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scabbing
present participle
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to become covered with a scab.
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to act or work as a scab.
noun
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the dried crusty surface of a healing skin wound or sore
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a contagious disease of sheep, a form of mange, caused by a mite ( Psoroptes communis )
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a fungal disease of plants characterized by crusty spots on the fruits, leaves, etc
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derogatory
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Also called: blackleg. a person who refuses to support a trade union's actions, esp one who replaces a worker who is on strike
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( as modifier )
scab labour
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a despicable person
verb
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to become covered with a scab
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(of a road surface) to become loose so that potholes develop
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to replace a striking worker
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scabsimple
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scabssimple
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have scabbedperfect
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has scabbedperfect
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am scabbingprogressive
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are scabbingprogressive
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is scabbingprogressive
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have been scabbingperfect progressive
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has been scabbingperfect progressive
Past
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scabbedsimple
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had scabbedperfect
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was scabbingprogressive
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were scabbingprogressive
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had been scabbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scab
1200–50; 1800–10 scab for def. 4; Middle English < Old Norse skabb scab, itch; cf. shabby, shave
Explanation
Kids who fall and skin their knees know what a scab is: it's the crusty patch of skin that forms when a scrape or cut is healing. A wound will form a scab as it heals, whether it's a cut or a burn. Skin has an amazing ability to repair itself, and a scab is evidence of this. Scab is also a slang term for someone who crosses a picket line during a strike, choosing to work instead of joining coworkers in protesting low wages or harsh treatment by an employer. This kind of scab first meant "unpleasant person" in the late 1500s.
Vocabulary lists containing scab
"The Jacket"
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Kindred
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Milkweed
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I can tell you that it’s a wound that will scab over in time, but will tear open from time to time.”
From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2026
“These people believe that you take the scab off of a wound and take it off again and again until something miraculous happens,” Boritt grumbles to the camera.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Apples are also among the most heavily treated fruits, with pesticides used in particular to fight apple scab, the main fungal threat to orchards.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
The show says it doesn’t plan to scab.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
So that neither she nor the alive love of her will fade or scab over the way it had with Violet.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
An AFP photograph showed a red area with several brownish scabs protruding above his shirt collar on the right side of the neck of the 79-year-old president, the oldest ever elected.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Of course, Boritt had devoted much of that life, as a historian, to picking at one of the gnarliest scabs in American history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
On this, his third album, he picks at the scabs of northern working-class life, and rails against a system that leaves families mired in bureaucratic neglect.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
“I had these giant scabs on my head,” he said, “these were like golf-ball-sized scabs.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2025
Her face was covered in scabs, but I looked in her eyes and tried to hide the shock of seeing her face scratched up so badly.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
She had reported concerns about a mole on her upper arm which had grown, becoming itchy and scabbed.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2023
His hand is still bruised and scabbed, and it must heal fully before he can resume swinging a bat.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 22, 2023
Cedar, fir, madrone trees, scabbed with muscles, kelp, barnacles.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2023
They’re bandages that also evoke the woven-cotton canvas of the painting underneath, a scabbed support that is coming undone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
Her hands were covered with half-healed scratches, and both knees were scabbed over where she had scraped them raw in tumbles.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
The rash goes through several stages which include flat spots, raised spots, blisters and then scabbing.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
While this may seem like a perfect opportunity, please note that the WGA does strongly enforces its right to prevent non-members who have engaged in scabbing from ever becoming members.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2023
In the photos taken by investigators soon after Suzanne’s disappearance on Mother’s Day that year, there are three abrasions or cuts scabbing over, Rohrich said, Fox 21 reported.
From Fox News ● Aug. 23, 2021
And, hung from a barn door like a pair of swords and scabbing to ochre with rust, there were two axles rescued from the ashes of the last wagon owned by our family.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 8, 2018
“I’m all done. It will hurt a little tomorrow and may bleed a bit during the scabbing stage, but you should be fine.”
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
