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Glite Dictionary
to be a scab

to be a scab

1 9.9
Work during a strike while other workers protest, making the strike weaker
  • phrasal verb
  • Offensive
translation icon : ser un esquirol
  • Ain't our fault Dockley's a scab!

Examples

  • You are a scab.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • He's a scab.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Many workers resented him because he chose to be a scab during the strike.

  • The union members protested loudly against anyone who would be a scab.

  • To be a scab is to betray your fellow workers and undermine their efforts for better wages.

Synonyms

to cross the picket line
vsto be a scab
4 7.3

To go to work during a strike even though other workers are striking

is described as betraying fellow workers by working during a strike

Antonyms

commitment
178 3.2

A promise to do something that creates a legal or financial duty

sympathy strike
  • Jargon
7.0

Workers stop work to support other workers on strike

How Supportive

to be a scab
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Surface Forms

be a scab infinitive
was a scab past
been a scab past participle
being a scab present participle
is a scab third person singular

Morphology

be + a + scab

This is a straightforward copular construction ('be' + article + noun) so if a learner knows 'scab' as 'worker hired to replace striking employees' the meaning 'to work during a strike / to be such a replacement worker' is directly derivable from the parts. The negative, evaluative sense of 'scab' (betraying fellow workers) is pragmatic but does not prevent compositional understanding.

Etymology

The phrase be a scab comes from workers calling someone a scab, the hard, unwanted covering on a wound. One popular story says strikers used scab for anyone who broke the strike and hurt the group's effort, so be a scab came to mean 'to work during a strike'.