scabbing

Verb

scab (third-person singular simple present scabs, present participle scabbing, simple past and past participle scabbed)

1. (intransitive) To become covered by a scab or scabs.
2. (intransitive) To form into scabs and be shed, as damaged or diseased skin.
   • Thoſe Puſtules aroſe, maturated, and ſcabbed off, intirely like the true Pox.1734, Royal Society of London, The Philosophical Transactions (1719 - 1733) Abridged, Volume 7, page 631
3. (transitive) To remove part of a surface (from).
   • The beds shall be scabbed off to give a solid bearing, no pinning shall be admitted between the backing and the face stones and there shall be a good square joint not exceeding one inch in width, and the face stone shall be scabbed off to allow this.1891, Canadian Senate, Select Committee on Railways, Telegraphs and Harbours: Proceedings and Evidence, page 265
4. (intransitive) To act as a strikebreaker.
   • Don't scab for the bosses / Don't listen to their lies / Us poor folks haven't got a chance / Unless we organize.1931, “Which Side Are You On?”, performed by Florence Patton Reece
5. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal, transitive) To beg (for), to cadge or bum.
   • I scabbed some money off a friend.

See all 14 meanings of scab