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scar

Pronunciation: /skɑː/

Translate scar | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of scar

noun

  • 1a mark left on the skin or within body tissue where a wound, burn, or sore has not healed completely and fibrous connective tissue has developed:a faint scar ran the length of his left cheek
  • a lasting effect of grief, fear, or other emotion left on a person’s character by an unpleasant experience:the attack has left mental scars on Terry and his family
  • a mark left on something following damage of some kind:Max could see scars of the blast
  • a mark left at the point of separation of a leaf, frond, or other part from a plant: this fossil bark is typified by its lozenge-shaped leaf scars
  • 2a steep high cliff or rock outcrop, especially of limestone: high limestone scars bordered the road
    [ Middle English: from Old Norse sker 'low reef']

verb (scars, scarring, scarred)

[with object]
  • mark with a scar or scars:he is likely to be scarred for life after injuries to his face, arms, and legs (as adjective, in combination -scarred)battle-scarred troops
  • [no object] form or be marked with a scar: his arm will not scar such lung scarring is associated with cigarette smoking

Derivatives

scarless

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French escharre, via late Latin from Greek eskhara 'scab'

scar in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of scar in the US English dictionary