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to scab

to scab

1 2.6
To form a hard dry cover over a healing cut or sore
  • verb
  • /skæb/
translation icon : formar una costra
  • I also have a family friend who works for the Ministry of Natural Resources and comes in contact with poison ivy at least several times a summer. He swears by a stiff bristle brush and scrubbing the blisters until they scab, and then they don't cause any more problems.
  • scab over then

Examples

  • But eventually, life moves on, and the wounds scab over, and the scars begin to form.

    Blog text (5)
  • After the soccer match, the bruises on her legs started to scab as her body recovered.

  • But then, you start to scab over.

    Blog text (6)
  • It's going to sterilize the surface so that the potato can just scab over and and dry normally.

  • Surely the lightning-wounded wood would soon dry, scab, and heal.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • But he said that just like skin on the outside of your body, on the inside of your intestine, if it can, it forms a scab with which then it heals.

  • And when the drains finally scab over... ...all the vermin will drown.

  • The cut on his finger began to scab over after a few days, indicating it was healing.

  • It is important not to pick at scabs; they help the skin to scab properly and heal.

Phrasal Verbs

to be a scab
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Work during a strike while other workers protest, making the strike weaker

Compounds

russet scab
  • Specialized
9.6

A disease of potatoes that makes rough brown patches on their skins

potato scab bacteria
  • Specialized
5.1

Germs that make brown rough patches on potatoes

wheat scab
  • Specialized
6.8

A disease that attacks wheat heads, damages grain, and lowers yield

Surface Forms

scab infinitive
scabbed past
scabbed past participle
scabbing present participle
scabs third person singular

Etymology

The verb scab comes from the noun for that protective crust and simply means to form the dry cover during healing. So when a cut or scrape 'scabs' it grows a hard layer to protect the skin as it recovers.