scabies
[skey-beez, -bee-eez]
- 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.
Show More
Origin of scabies
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin scabiēs roughness, the itch, derivative of scabere to scratch, scrape; cognate with shave
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for scabies
Contemporary Examples
I tried to sneak in a quick scratch every time Bachardy looked down, but I must have looked like a crazy person with scabies.
Historical Examples
I happened to have blood-poisoning, not scabies, and I have it still.
An Onlooker in France 1917-1919William Orpen
As for Sulphur, "the common people have long used it as an ointment" for scabies.
Medical EssaysOliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
The Guinea pig, like the rabbit, suffers from scabies and coccidiosis.
The Elements of Bacteriological TechniqueJohn William Henry Eyre
Is the grade of cutaneous irritation the same in all cases of scabies?
Essentials of Diseases of the SkinHenry Weightman Stelwagon
Scabies is an itching skin disease, which it takes at least a week to cure.
A German deserter's war experienceAnonymous
scabies
- a contagious skin infection caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, characterized by intense itching, inflammation, and the formation of vesicles and pustules
Show More
Word Origin
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
n.
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
scabies
(skā′bēz)- A contagious skin disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei and characterized by intense itching.
- A similar disease in animals.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.