scab
Skin's natural bandage
A scab is the rough crust that forms over a wound as it heals—dried blood and tissue protecting new skin beneath.
Picking at scabs delays healing.
Extended meanings share the sense of something unwanted or contemptible.
A scab is a worker who crosses a picket line or takes a striker's job: The union called them scabs.
The term is strongly derogatory in labor contexts.
As a verb, to scab is to form a crust or to work during a strike.
Overgrown scar tissue
- cicatrixHealed wound tissue
- blemishVisible flaw or mark
- markVisible impression or sign
- pockmarkDepressed scar from infection
disfigurement · pitted · tissue · healed · permanent · faded · picking · trauma
Disposable soft paper
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
- clottingBlood solidifying process
- coagulationLiquid solidifying into mass
- granulationMaking into small grains
fibroblasts · collagen · repair · recovery · restoration · cellular · growth · antiseptic
Hard outer layer
- clotCoagulated mass
- healingRestoration of health
- sorePainful or annoyed
- lesionArea of pathological change
cut · scratch · abrasion · gash · laceration · blood · coagulate · picking
keloid
Overgrown scar tissue
pockmark · disfigurement · pitted · tissue · healed · permanent · faded · picking · trauma · scarring
tissue
Disposable soft paper
- regenerationBiological self-repair process
- clottingBlood solidifying process
- coagulationLiquid solidifying into mass
granulation · fibroblasts · collagen · repair · recovery · restoration · cellular · growth · antiseptic · ointment
crust
Hard outer layer
lesion · cut · scratch · abrasion · gash · laceration · blood · coagulate · picking · flaky
blackleg
Strikebreaking worker
- replacementWhat takes another's place
- unionJoining into one
- crossingPoint where paths intersect
fink · rat · solidarity · walkout · lockout · picket · boycott · labor · dispute · negotiation
mange
Mite-caused skin disease
- ringwormFungal skin infection
- impetigoBacterial skin infection, honey-crusted
- eczemaInflammatory skin disorder
psoriasis · dermatitis · crusted · lesion · flaky · scaly · infection · pustule · sore · blister
- skin and hairskin, hair, dermis, epidermis, pore
- Skin Healingscar tissue, wound healing, new skin, tissue repair, skin grafting
- skin injuriescut, scrape, scratch, bruise, burn
- skin lesionspustule, pimple, boil, blister, sore
- wound healingscar, granulation, wound closure, scar formation, tissue repair
- metal defectscrack, porosity, shrinkage, blowhole, pinhole
scabstriker
One who hits targets
picketer · picket · card-carrying member · shop steward · labor organizer
- picking scabs
- scab pickingPeeling off healing tissue
- dirty scab