n. [ OE. scab, scabbe, shabbe; cf. AS. scaeb, sceabb, scebb, Dan. & Sw. skab, and also L. scabies, fr. scabere to scratch, akin to E. shave. See Shave, and cf. Shab, Shabby. ] 1. An incrustation over a sore, wound, vesicle, or pustule, formed by the drying up of the discharge from the diseased part. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The itch in man; also, the scurvy. [ Colloq. or Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 3. The mange, esp. when it appears on sheep. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A disease of potatoes producing pits in their surface, caused by a minute fungus (Tiburcinia Scabies). [ 1913 Webster ] 5. (Founding) A slight irregular protuberance which defaces the surface of a casting, caused by the breaking away of a part of the mold. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. A mean, dirty, paltry fellow. [ Low ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. A nickname for a workman who engages for lower wages than are fixed by the trades unions; also, for one who takes the place of a workman on a strike. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ] 8. (Bot.) Any one of various more or less destructive fungus diseases attacking cultivated plants, and usually forming dark-colored crustlike spots. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] |