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scab

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
scab  (skb)
n.
1. A crust discharged from and covering a healing wound.
2. Scabies or mange in domestic animals or livestock, especially sheep.
3.
a. Any of various plant diseases caused by fungi or bacteria and resulting in crustlike spots on fruit, leaves, or roots.
b. The spots caused by such a disease.
4. Slang A person regarded as contemptible.
5.
a. A worker who refuses membership in a labor union.
b. An employee who works while others are on strike; a strikebreaker.
c. A person hired to replace a striking worker.
intr.v. scabbed, scab·bing, scabs
1. To become covered with scabs or a scab.
2. To work or take a job as a scab.

[Middle English, from Old Norse skabb.]

scab
Noun
1. the dried crusty surface of a healing skin wound or sore
2. Disparaging a person who refuses to support a trade union's actions, and continues to work during a strike
3. a contagious disease of sheep, caused by a mite
4. a fungal disease of plants
Verb
[scabbing, scabbed]
1. to become covered with a scab
2. Disparaging to work as a scab [Old English sceabb]

scab  (skb)
A crust that forms over a healing wound, consisting of dried blood, plasma, and other secretions.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.scab - someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike
worker - a person who works at a specific occupation; "he is a good worker"
2.scab - the crustlike surface of a healing skin lesion
cutis, skin, tegument - a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch; "your skin is the largest organ of your body"
solid body substance - the solid parts of the body
eschar - a dry scab formed on the skin following a burn or cauterization of the skin
Verb1.scab - form a scab; "the wounds will eventually scab"
heal - get healthy again; "The wound is healing slowly"
2.scab - take the place of work of someone on strike
do work, work - be employed; "Is your husband working again?"; "My wife never worked"; "Do you want to work after the age of 60?"; "She never did any work because she inherited a lot of money"; "She works as a waitress to put herself through college"
Translations
Spanish scab [skæb] ncostra;
(pej) → esquirol(a) m/f

French scab [skæb] ncroûte f;
(pej) → jaune m

German scab [skæb] n (on wound) → Schorf m;
(pej) → Streikbrecher(in) m(f)

Italian scab [skæb] ncrosta;
(pej) → crumiro/a

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
A refusal of cooks and waiters to serve scab teamsters or teamsters' employers brought out the cooks and waiters.
So thoroughly was Bill Totts himself, so thoroughly a workman, a genuine denizen of South of the Slot, that he was as class- conscious as the average of his kind, and his hatred for a scab even exceeded that of the average loyal union man.
A gipsy encampment to-day is little more than a moving slum, a scab of squalor on the fair face of the countryside.
 
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