scar

¹ American  

[skahr] / skɑr /

noun

1. a mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn.

2. a lasting aftereffect of trouble, especially a lasting psychological injury resulting from suffering or trauma.

3. any blemish remaining as a trace of or resulting from injury or use.

4. Botany. a mark indicating a former point of attachment, as where a leaf has fallen from a stem.

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verb (used with object)

scarred, scarring

1. to mark with a scar.

verb (used without object)

scarred, scarring

1. to form a scar in healing.

scar ² American  

[skahr] / skɑr /

noun

British.

1. a precipitous, rocky place; cliff.

2. a low or submerged rock in the sea.

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scar ¹ British  

/ skɑː /

noun

1. any mark left on the skin or other tissue following the healing of a wound

2. a permanent change in a person's character resulting from emotional distress

   his wife's death left its scars on him

3. the mark on a plant indicating the former point of attachment of a part, esp the attachment of a leaf to a stem

4. a mark of damage; blemish

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verb

1. to mark or become marked with a scar

2. (intr) to heal leaving a scar

scar ² British  

/ skɑː /

noun

1. an irregular enlongated trench-like feature on a land surface that often exposes bedrock

2. a similar formation in a river or sea

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Other Word Forms

• scarless adjective

Etymology

Origin of scar¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; shortening of eschar

Origin of scar²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English scarre, skerre, from Old Norse sker skerry

Example Sentences

Gandy had been in so many fights he was scarred up like a back alley tomcat, which didn’t seem to help his meanness at all.

From Literature

“And they never attacked Fitzgerald, either. That’s the story he tells, but his scars are really just from the pox and scratching so much.”

From Literature

“Even when we succeed in finding our new homes,” she writes, “we will always bear the scars of our displacement.”

From Los Angeles Times

"When the mines all shut there was deprivation, scarred landscapes, and the valleys have obviously struggled to regenerate themselves from those days."

From BBC

All of the men we spoke to are now outside of Russia, but have mental scars from the front lines in Ukraine.

From BBC

Related Words

• blister
• crater
• defect
• discoloration
• disfigurement
• flaw
• scab
• wound