Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A contagious skin disease caused by a parasitic mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) and characterized by intense itching.
  • noun A similar disease in animals, especially sheep.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The itch; a contagious disease of the skin. due to a parasitic mite, Sarcoptes scabiei. which forms burrows (cuniculi) in the epidermis and gives rise to more or less severe dermatitis. See cut under itch-mite.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Med.) The itch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun pathology An infestation of parasitic mites, Sarcoptes scabiei, causing intense itching caused by the mites burrowing into the skin of humans and other animals. It is easily transmissible from human to human; secondary skin infection may occur.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite; characterized by persistent itching and skin irritation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin scabiēs, from scabere, to scratch.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin scabiēs ("scurf; scab, mange, itch"), from scabō ("scratch, scrape").

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Examples

  • The name meaning "in place where gives the scabies" is not encouraging.

    Sahauyo 2007

  • This is why a unionized workforce is a good thing: Disney World's costumed characters have won the right to wear their own underwear to work, after years of getting crabs and scabies from the Disney-provided articles.

    Boing Boing: June 10, 2001 - June 16, 2001 Archives 2001

  • The scabies might be the stress that pushed your dad over the edge into having a heart attack, and the good thing, Jessie, is that he had the heart attack before it was a massive one—so he could have the surgery and be okay.

    Dirty Secret Jessie Sholl 2011

  • A mysterious disease, known as the scabies, had broken out among the Russian apostles.

    South Wind Norman Douglas 1910

  • Black and Bartholomew then developed a skin rash known as scabies, which they said was due to their contact with the diseased puppy.

    zanesvilletimesrecorder.com - Local News 2009

  • They are also most prone to several diseases such as scabies and malaria.

    Zeinab Khan: Pakistan's Kids Work As Garbage Collectors To Make Ends Meet 2009

  • No. Pets become infested with a different kind of scabies mite.

    Scabies 2008

  • Dermatological and ophthalmic diseases directly due to a lack of hygiene such as scabies, trachoma, conjunctivitis, etc.

    1. Water in camps of Displaced people 1994

  • After I had been treated with sulphur for "scabies" a couple of weeks, a hole came in my throat just like the one I had on my foot -- a white hole with a black band round it, and all the flesh for about six inches beyond it

    An Onlooker in France 1917-1919 William Orpen 1904

  • Bruce Bowker, a vet practising in Nova Scotia, says some in the medical camp caution against a human/pet bed because of the possibility of cross-species transmission of infectious diseases HIN1 Influenza, MRSA, and external parasites such as scabies and ringworm and internal parasites like roundworm.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Christy Ann Conlin 2011

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