scarify
Americanverb (used with object)
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scarifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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scarified,
past participle, past
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scarifying
present participle
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to make scratches or superficial incisions in (the skin), to produce an immune response or administer certain injections.
The smallpox vaccine, which was administered by scarifying the skin, left a telltale scar on the upper arm.
During the therapeutic procedure of wet cupping, the practitioner scarifies the skin after suction.
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to scratch, etch, cut, or burn designs or images into the skin in order to create permanent decorative or symbolic scars.
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to lacerate by severe criticism.
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to loosen (the soil) with a type of cultivator.
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to hasten the sprouting of (hard-covered seeds) by making incisions in the seed coats.
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to break up (a road surface).
verb
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surgery to make tiny punctures or superficial incisions in (the skin or other tissue), as for inoculating
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agriculture
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to break up and loosen (soil) to a shallow depth
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to scratch or abrade the outer surface of (seeds) to increase water absorption or hasten germination
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to wound with harsh criticism
verb
Usage
Scarify is sometimes wrongly thought to mean the same as scare: a frightening (not scarifying ) film
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scarifysimple
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scarifiessimple
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have scarifiedperfect
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has scarifiedperfect
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am scarifyingprogressive
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are scarifyingprogressive
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is scarifyingprogressive
-
have been scarifyingperfect progressive
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has been scarifyingperfect progressive
Past
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scarifiedsimple
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had scarifiedperfect
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was scarifyingprogressive
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were scarifyingprogressive
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had been scarifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scarify
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English scarifien, from Middle French scarifier, scarefier, from Late Latin scarīficāre, alteration of Latin scarīfāre, scarīphāre “to make scratches, scrach,” from Greek skarīphâsthai “to sketch,” derivative of skárīphos “stylus”; see also -ify
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:
The seed packets instruct you to scarify the seeds and presoak them before planting.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
Ricky promised that his Rollerblades wouldn’t scarify the floor. unique.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Even on a good day, Pugs- ley is a restive child. scarify.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Primarily, to scarify is to cut or scratch marks into the surface of something.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
A memory tip: If you scarify something, you leave scars.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
The girl’s determination to own one of Jones’ paintings made her realize the struggles and scarifies she made to become an artist were paying off.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 19, 2020
And the torch he carries blazing,— Truly 'tis a tiny one; Yet, that tiny torch upraising, Cupid scarifies the sun!
From Second Book of Verse by Eugene Field
When bitten, the sufferer tightens these cords above the injured part, which he immediately scarifies; thus they act as tourniquets.
From Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
He scarifies or tattoos his naked body with figures upon his back, arms, legs, and face to represent an idea of beauty.
From History of Human Society by Frank W. (Frank Wilson) Blackmar
Today, the shore at Port Gamble where the mill used to be is a scarified landscape awaiting its next chapter.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
He devised both a hectic manner of performance and a visual art to match: Losey’s screens are scarified and striated, a tangle of turbulent textures in which the characters are seemingly inescapably caught.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 6, 2019
Meanwhile, Booker is walking around Columbia with two letters, “AD,” scarified onto his hand.
From Forbes ● Mar. 27, 2013
But in one of the third-floor galleries Mr. Price also contributes some of the show’s best pictorial art: projections of his lavishly scarified slides, pieced together from found film, filigreed with mold, textured with dust.
From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2012
The scarified man looked at me suspiciously, yet said nothing.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
And some seeds need special techniques for successful germination, including fermenting or scarifying.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2021
Despite the NCAA’s scarifying prediction that it would lead to the immediate death of autumn, the season is coming on.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2021
Mr. Hurt’s evolving expressions as, weary head in hand, Krapp listens to the voice on the tape recorder, draw with absolute precision a scarifying picture of the man’s shuffling, tormenting thoughts.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2011
Johnson’s voice was not particularly powerful – certainly it was no match for the scarifying wail of a Patton or a Howlin’ Wolf.
From Chicago Tribune ● May 3, 2011
In five minutes he was scarifying his skin with a rough towel and tingled with renewing circulation.
From The Rapids by Alan Sullivan
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.
