1
: scabies of domestic animals
2
: a crust of hardened blood and serum over a wound
3
a
: a contemptible person
b(1)
: a worker who refuses to join a labor union
(2)
: a union member who refuses to strike or returns to work before a strike has ended
(3)
: a worker who accepts employment or replaces a union worker during a strike
(4)
: one who works for less than union wages or on nonunion terms
4
: any of various bacterial or fungus diseases of plants characterized by crustaceous spots
also
: one of the spots
scabbed; scabbing
Examples of scab in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Joe Joyce, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
Our relationship now is at a place where there are just scabs.
—Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025
Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Oct. 2024
The crust eventually scabs off, leaving a red welt that can sometimes take a few weeks to calm down.
—Mark Hay, SELF, 26 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scab
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Noun
The resort is but a scab on the land, the veneer of civilization even thinner.
—Joe Joyce, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 14 Mar. 2025
Our relationship now is at a place where there are just scabs.
—Olivia-Anne Cleary, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025
Verb
Yet as the summer progresses, raw wounds begin to scab over, as father and daughter begin to truly see each other once more — though the film, restrained to the last, holds off on any grandly cathartic embraces or gestures of reconciliation.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 17 Oct. 2024
The crust eventually scabs off, leaving a red welt that can sometimes take a few weeks to calm down.
—Mark Hay, SELF, 26 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for scab
Cite this Entry
“Scab.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scab. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
scab
1 of 2 noun1
: scabies of domestic animals
2
: a crust chiefly of hardened blood that forms over and protects a wound
3
: a worker who takes the place of a striking worker
4
: a plant disease in which crusted spots form on stems or leaves
scab
2 of 2 verb
scabbed; scabbing
1
: to become covered with a scab
2
: to act as a scab
Medical Definition
scab
2 of 2 intransitive verb
scabbed; scabbing
: to become covered with a scab
the wound scabbed over
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