scrapie

[skrey-pee, skrap-ee]

noun Veterinary Pathology.

a usually fatal brain disease of sheep, characterized by twitching of the neck and head, grinding of the teeth, and scraping of itching portions of skin against fixed objects with a subsequent loss of wool: thought to be caused by an infectious prion.

Origin of scrapie

First recorded in 1905–10; scrap(e) + -ie

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

British Dictionary definitions for scrapie

scrapie

noun

a disease of sheep and goats: one of a group of diseases (including BSE in cattle) that are caused by a protein prion, and result in spongiform encephalopathy

Word Origin for scrapie

C20: from scrape + -ie

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

scrapie in Science

scrapie

[skrā′pē, skrăp′ē]

A usually fatal, infectious disease of sheep and goats that is marked by chronic itching, loss of muscular coordination, and progressive deterioration of the central nervous system, thought to be caused by a prion.