How to Use scab in a Sentence

scab

1 of 2 noun
  • His face was covered in dark scabs.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 1 May 2026
  • Boils that must be lanced, or at least scabs that itch to be picked.
    — John Herrman, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2018
  • Who wants to see a play that yanks the scab from unhealed wounds?
    — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 12 May 2017
  • Sure enough, the wound balled up into a dark scab that soon fell off.
    — Allen Mendenhall, WSJ, 28 Sep. 2017
  • Chase had black eyes and old injuries that were healing with scabs.
    — Michelle Hunter, NOLA.com, 18 Oct. 2017
  • My brother stored these scabs in a box that had once held chocolates.
    — Yoko Ogawa, The New Yorker, 20 July 2023
  • There were several jagged dark brown scabs.
    — Literary Hub, 9 Feb. 2026
  • His wrist was split open and his face — now covered in scabs — was sprayed with shrapnel.
    — Heidi Levine, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2023
  • The men who flocked to spring training sites were called scabs, cast as anti-union phonies.
    — Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Let the pieces dry for a couple of days to develop scabs.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 16 Apr. 2026
  • My scabs, which are imprinted on my kneecaps, give me some street cred, at least to me.
    — Abby Ellin, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 May 2024
  • The rough blotchy areas on the fruit surface are a symptom of pear scab.
    — oregonlive, 23 Aug. 2020
  • If the stars promote the movie at the festival, will they be seen as scabs?
    — Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2023
  • During the healing process, new tattoos will itch, kind of like a scab.
    — Kelsey Stiegman, Seventeen, 6 Aug. 2020
  • As the days went by, a sort of skin or scab grew over the memory of her arrest.
    — Hari Kunzru, The New Yorker, 29 June 2020
  • The make-up department has slathered his face in scabs, bruises and dirt.
    — Gogo Lidz, Newsweek, 18 June 2015
  • Adding onion flakes gives just the right chunky texture to give the appearance of scabs.
    — Susan Choung, Good Housekeeping, 5 July 2023
  • In severe cases, scab could cut a farm’s yield by 45%.
    — Tom W. Allen, The Conversation, 12 Nov. 2025
  • The cure for greyscale is literally picking it off the body like a scab?
    — Julie Kosin, Harper's BAZAAR, 2 Aug. 2017
  • This may be the time to stop picking at the scab that is the vaccination wars.
    — Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 6 Jan. 2022
  • The blisters heal in a week or two to form crusty scabs that eventually fall off.
    — Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Pecan scab is causing the pecans to turn black and fall prematurely.
    — Neil Sperry, ExpressNews.com, 26 Sep. 2019
  • Her body was fully covered in scars, scabs, blisters and bruises from whip marks.
    — Linda Trischitta, sun-sentinel.com, 4 June 2019
  • That’s due to pecan scab, a fungus that attacked the pecans clear back in early summer.
    — Neil Sperry, San Antonio Express-News, 10 Sep. 2021
  • From the outside, burl wood appears deformed, all grayish scabs of nasty bark.
    — John Semley, The New Republic, 27 Apr. 2020
  • The 24-year-old melanoma survivor likens it to asking someone about a scab.
    — Jihan Forbes, Allure, 25 June 2021
  • There’s something about seeing your kid get teased that lifts up the corners of your own ancient scabs.
    — Emily Flake, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2019
  • Her dad said her only complaint over the next couple of days was itching on her head, where the scab was.
    — Kwegyirba Croffie, CNN, 22 May 2017
  • Over time, a scab forms over the incision similar to one your body forms over a cut on your hand or arm.
    — Pao Vang, M.d., Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2023
  • There is a slight risk of bleeding when the scabs fall off about seven to 10 days after surgery.
    — Pao Vang, M.d., Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2023

scab

2 of 2 verb
  • The lesions progress, become filled with a fluid, then scab and fall off.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 24 May 2022
  • Let succulent cuts dry out and scab over for a day or two before planting.
    — oregonlive, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The lesions begin as flat but then become raised, filled with fluid, and scab over.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 10 June 2022
  • The rash can progress across the body, and eventually scab over before the scabs fall off.
    — Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2022
  • Its wounds stop bleeding, scab over quickly, and shrink by 64 percent within a day.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2012
  • The blisters typically scab over in seven to 10 days, and can take up to four weeks to clear up.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 17 July 2017
  • The lesions may be painful or itchy, and will eventually scab over and fall off before fully healing.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 18 Aug. 2022
  • Resistant to scab and mosaic virus.
    — Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 12 May 2026
  • Some people may form blisters or scab over in the few days, as the extreme cold has destroyed the skin cells in order to make the skin tag go away.
    — Kristi Kellogg, Allure, 9 Sep. 2017
  • The best approach is to just keep your skin clean and dry until the blisters scab over; if needed, calamine lotion is a safe option.
    — Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour, 14 May 2026
  • The lesions eventually scab over and fall off, usually within two to four weeks.
    — Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 17 Aug. 2022
  • Blisters typically scab over in seven to 10 days and clear within two to four weeks.
    — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 29 Apr. 2026
  • That's followed by a painful rash that develops into fluid-containing pustules that scab over.
    — The Week Staff, The Week, 21 Aug. 2022
  • The rash consists of small blisters that typically scab over in seven to 10 days and clear up within two-to-four weeks.
    — Julie Washington, cleveland, 12 Jan. 2020
  • The typical evolution of the rash is that the pustules progress to blisters that eventually scab over.
    — Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, ABC News, 25 July 2022
  • People with monkeypox should be considered infectious until after the sores scab over and fall off.
    — Dr. Celine Gounder, CBS News, 28 June 2022
  • Thwarting the rash could also help people make a swifter exit from isolation, which can stretch for weeks as patients wait for their lesions to scab and heal over.
    — Emily Alpert Reyes, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Aug. 2022
  • The lesions finally scab over and resolve over a period of two to three weeks, the CDC said.
    — Forrest Brown, CNN, 7 June 2022
  • The disease eventually progresses into a rash and lesions that blister and scab over.
    — Katherine Dillinger, CNN, 29 May 2022
  • The disease later progresses into a rash and lesions that can blister and scab over all over the body -- usually lasting two to four weeks.
    — Heather Chen, CNN, 22 June 2022
  • Monkeypox lesions inevitably will scab over — and while that is a step in the right direction in terms of the infection, the sores underneath can scar.
    — Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2022
  • Typically, the vaccinated area would form a blister, scab over, and leave behind a distinctive scar.
    — Jordan E. Taylor, Time, 5 Apr. 2021
  • Non-members who scab jeopardize ever becoming members of this great Alliance.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 14 Oct. 2021
  • Until the lesions scab over and heal, people can infect others through close physical contact or by touching things like bedding that were in contact with the rash.
    — Michelle Andrews, CBS News, 8 July 2022
  • Like smallpox, monkeypox causes skin blisters that eventually scab over.
    — Maggie Fox, CNN, 16 July 2021
  • After that, the rash goes through phases, including pustules progressing to blisters that eventually scab over.
    — Dr. Mark Abdelmalek, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2022
  • The rash typically develops on one side of the body or face and forms blisters that scab over in 7–10 days, usually healing within two to four weeks.
    — Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
  • The formation of these media-relations fiascos tends to scar and scab over the conscience, to treat it as an irrelevance or, at best, a private problem to be overcome.
    — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 5 Mar. 2021
  • Soldiers marching to Rome from Mesopotamia in late 165 AD were ill, many covered in red and black papules that eventually would scab over and fall off.
    — Fox News, 22 Apr. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scab.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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