scab
19
8.4
- noun
- /skæb/
- Offensive
:
rompehuelgas
- During the strike, the angry workers protested against the company for hiring scabs to replace them.
- scab labor
Actually, what do you think about Terry Crews the scab?
- Actually, what do you think about Terry Crews the scab?
- When non union blacks or Hispanics are used as strike Breakers, they're attacked as scabs.
Examples
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Some of the scabs will do it for nothing.
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Once the Birmingham local discovered this, its members condemned the use of scabs.
Academic text (2000) -
...But the scab drivers are killing us.
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So you are a scab.
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What happened? - They called me a scab.
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The factory just decides to hire somebody else, bring them in quickly, train them and with scab workers.
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But you let scabs move in and start working.
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You and your brother are scabs!
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In September, armed miners succeeded in turning back the first trainload of scabs at Virden.
Academic text (2000) -
They said there's more scabs comin' in by the truckload.
Synonyms
330
7.3
A person who betrays a group by telling secret information to outsiders
1
7.7
A person who works while other workers refuse to work to protest
A person who keeps working when other workers are on strike
Antonyms
Compounds
How Derogatory
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word scab used for a worker who replaces striking workers became an insult by comparing that person to a skin 'scab' or a sore on the body, something unwanted. A helpful way to remember this is to think of a 'scab' as an unwanted spot on the community, which is why the word is derogatory.