scab

1. 1.

   someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike

   Synonymsstrikebreakerblacklegrat

   Broaderworker
2. 2.

   the crustlike surface of a healing skin lesion

   Broadersolid body substance

   Narrowereschar

   Part ofskin

1. 1.

   form a scab

   “the wounds will eventually scab”

   Broaderheal
2. 2.

   take the place of work of someone on strike

   Synonymsfinkratblackleg

   Broaderwork

Other forms of scab

plural

scabs·

past tense

scabbed·

present participle

scabbing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about scab

What does scab mean?

scab means "someone who works (or provides workers) during a strike". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in scab?

scab has 1 syllable: scab. In IPA it is /ˈskæb/.

What is another word for scab?

Close synonyms include strikebreaker, blackleg, rat, fink, rat. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is scab a common word?

scab is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.