scabies

[skey-beez, -bee-eez]

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noun (used with a singular verb) Pathology, Veterinary Pathology.

a contagious skin disease occurring especially in sheep and cattle and also in humans, caused by the itch mite, Sarcoptes scabiei, which burrows under the skin.Compare itch(def 10), mange.

Origin of scabies

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin scabiēs roughness, the itch, derivative of scabere to scratch, scrape; cognate with shave

Related formssca·bi·et·ic

[skey-bee-et-ik] /ˌskeɪ biˈɛt ɪk/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for scabies

AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, herpes, eruption, eczema, psoriasis, scab, dermatitis, clap, HIV, STD, VD, chancroid, chlamydia, crabs

Examples from the Web for scabies

Contemporary Examples of scabies

I tried to sneak in a quick scratch every time Bachardy looked down, but I must have looked like a crazy person with scabies.
Modeling for Don Bachardy
Itay Hod
July 5, 2010

Historical Examples of scabies

I happened to have blood-poisoning, not scabies, and I have it still.
An Onlooker in France 1917-1919
William Orpen
As for Sulphur, "the common people have long used it as an ointment" for scabies.
Medical Essays
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
The Guinea pig, like the rabbit, suffers from scabies and coccidiosis.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique
John William Henry Eyre
Is the grade of cutaneous irritation the same in all cases of scabies?
Essentials of Diseases of the Skin
Henry Weightman Stelwagon
Scabies is an itching skin disease, which it takes at least a week to cure.
A German deserter's war experience
Anonymous

British Dictionary definitions for scabies

scabies

noun

a contagious skin infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, characterized by intense itching, inflammation, and the formation of vesicles and pustules

Derived Formsscabietic (ˌskeɪbɪˈɛtɪk), adjective

Word Origin for scabies

C15: from Latin: scurf, from scabere to scratch; see shave

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scabies

skin disease, "the itch," c.1400, from Latin scabies "mange, itch, roughness," from scabere "to scratch, scrape," from PIE root *(s)kep-, a base forming words meaning "to cut, scrape, hack" (cf. Gothic scaban, Old English sceafan "to scrape, shave;" Greek skaptein "to dig;" "Old Church Slavonic skobli "scraper;" Lithuanian skabus "sharp," skabeti "to cut;" Lettish skabrs "splintery, sharp"). Related: Scabious.

scabies in Medicine

scabies

[skā′bēz]

n.

A contagious skin disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei and characterized by intense itching.

A similar disease in animals.