1 N‑COUNT A scab is a hard, dry covering that forms over the surface of a wound. □ The area can be very painful until scabs form after about ten days.
2 N‑COUNT People who continue to work during a strike are called scabs by the people who are on strike. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ He hired scabs to replace strikers. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Scab is also an adjective. □ The mill was started up with scab labor.
scab|bard /skæ bə r d/ (scabbards ) N‑COUNT A scabbard is a container for a sword and can hang from a belt.
scab|by /skæ bi/ ADJ If a person, an animal, or a part of their body is scabby , it has scabs on it. □ He had short trousers and scabby knees.
sca|bies /ske I biːz/ N‑UNCOUNT Scabies is a very infectious skin disease caused by very small creatures and makes you want to scratch a lot.
sca|brous /ske I brəs, skæ b-/ ADJ If you describe something as scabrous , you mean that it deals with sex or describes sex in a shocking way. [LITERARY , DISAPPROVAL ] □ …the scabrous lower reaches of the film business.
scaf|fold /skæ foʊld/ (scaffolds )
1 N‑COUNT A scaffold was a raised platform on which criminals were hanged or had their heads cut off. □ Moore ascended the scaffold and addressed the executioner.
2 N‑COUNT A scaffold is a temporary raised platform on which workers stand to paint, repair, or build high parts of a building.
scaf|fold|ing /skæ fəld I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT Scaffolding consists of poles and boards made into a temporary framework that is used by workers when they are painting, repairing, or building high parts of a building, usually outside.
scald /skɔː ld/ (scalds , scalding , scalded )
1 VERB If you scald yourself , you burn yourself with very hot liquid or steam. □ [V pron-refl] A patient scalded herself in a hot bath. □ [V -ed] …a child with a scalded hand.
2 N‑COUNT A scald is a burn caused by very hot liquid or steam.
scald|ing /skɔː ld I ŋ/ ADJ Scalding or scalding hot liquids are extremely hot. □ I tried to sip the tea but it was scalding. □ …scalding hot water.
scale ◆◆◇ /ske I l/ (scales , scaling , scaled )
1 N‑SING If you refer to the scale of something, you are referring to its size or extent, especially when it is very big. □ [+ of ] However, he underestimates the scale of the problem. □ The break-down of law and order could result in killing on a massive scale.
2 → see also full-scale , large-scale , small-scale
3 N‑COUNT A scale is a set of levels or numbers which are used in a particular system of measuring things or are used when comparing things. □ …an earthquake measuring five-point-five on the Richter scale. □ The higher up the social scale they are, the more the men have to lose.
4 → see also sliding scale , timescale
5 N‑COUNT A pay scale or scale of fees is a list that shows how much someone should be paid, depending, for example, on their age or what work they do. [BRIT ] □ …those on the high end of the pay scale.
6 N‑COUNT The scale of a map, plan, or model is the relationship between the size of something in the map, plan, or model and its size in the real world. □ [+ of ] The map, on a scale of 1:10,000, shows over 5,000 individual paths.
7 → see also full-scale , large-scale
8 ADJ [ADJ n] A scale model or scale replica of a building or object is a model of it which is smaller than the real thing but has all the same parts and features. □ Franklin made his mother an intricately detailed scale model of the house.
9 N‑COUNT In music, a scale is a fixed sequence of musical notes, each one higher than the next, which begins at a particular note. □ [+ of ] …the scale of C major.
10 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The scales of a fish or reptile are the small, flat pieces of hard skin that cover its body.
11 N‑PLURAL [oft a pair of N ] Scales are a piece of equipment used for weighing things, for example for weighing amounts of food that you need in order to make a particular meal. □ …a pair of kitchen scales. □ …bathroom scales.
12 VERB If you scale something such as a mountain or a wall, you climb up it or over it. [WRITTEN ] □ [V n] …Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to scale Everest.
13 PHRASE If something is out of scale with the things near it, it is too big or too small in relation to them. □ [+ with ] The tower was surmounted by an enormous statue, utterly out of scale with the building.
14 PHRASE If the different parts of a map, drawing, or model are to scale , they are the right size in relation to each other. □ …a miniature garden, with little pagodas and bridges all to scale.
▸ scale back PHRASAL VERB To scale back means the same as to scale down . [mainly AM ] □ [V P n] Despite current price advantage, U.K. manufacturers are still having to scale back production. [Also V n P ]
▸ scale down PHRASAL VERB If you scale down something, you make it smaller in size, amount, or extent than it used to be. □ [V P n] One factory has had to scale down its workforce from six hundred to only six. □ [V -ed P ] The Romanian government yesterday unveiled a new, scaled-down security force. [Also V n P ]
▸ scale up PHRASAL VERB If you scale up something, you make it greater in size, amount, or extent than it used to be. □ [V P n] Since then, Wellcome has been scaling up production to prepare for clinical trials. [Also V n P ] SYNONYMS scale NOUN 1