Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Scaly dry skin that has been exfoliated, such as dandruff.
- noun A loose scaly crust coating a surface, especially of a plant.
- noun Any of several fungal diseases of plants characterized by scaly lesions especially on underground parts, such as the tubers of potatoes.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Scaly or flaky matter on the surface of the skin; the scarf-skin or epidermis exfoliated in fine shreds or scales.
- noun Any scaly or flaky matter on a surface.
- noun Specifically
- noun In botany, a loose bran-like scaly matter that is found on some leaves, as in the genus Elæagnus, etc.
- noun A growth of polyps on oysters.
- noun Scum; offscouring.
- noun A fungous disease of potatoes, due to Rhizoctonia Solani, which gives the tubers a scurfy appearance and is accompanied by decay.
- noun A gray bulltrout; a variety of the trout, Salmo trutta cambricus.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Thin dry scales or scabs upon the body; especially, thin scales exfoliated from the cuticle, particularly of the scalp; dandruff.
- noun Hence, the foul remains of anything adherent.
- noun Anything like flakes or scales adhering to a surface.
- noun (Bot.) Minute membranous scales on the surface of some leaves, as in the goosefoot.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
skin disease . - noun The
flakes ofskin that fall off as a result of a skin disease. - noun Any
crust -likeformations on theskin , or in general. - noun figuratively The
foul remains of anythingadherent . - noun botany Minute
membranous scales on the surface of someleaves , as in thegoosefoot .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin
- noun (botany) a covering that resembles scales or bran that covers some plant parts
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word scurf.
Examples
-
In addition to keeping the hair perfectly clean, this brushing prevents the possibility of any scurf or dandruff – and scurf is death to the hair.
-
In the iris of the eye the atrophied condition of the skin is indicated by a heavy, dark rim, the so-called scurf rim.
Nature Cure Henry Lindlahr 1893
-
The black rim seen more or less distinctly in the outer rim of the iris in the eyes of the majority of people has been called the scurf rim, because it was found that this dark rim appears in the iris after the suppression of scurfy and other forms of skin eruptions and after the external or internal use of lotions, ointments and medicines containing mercury, zinc, iodine, arsenic or other poisons which suppress or destroy the life and activity of the skin.
Nature Cure Henry Lindlahr 1893
-
A woolly kind of scurf, scraped off the leaf stalks, is used for calking boats, and the stem furnishes a small quantity of wood.
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture William Saunders 1861
-
In the course of a week of this treatment the scurf ought to be quite cured.
-
I should strongly recommend the doctor being called in when there is scurf, but sometimes a home remedy like “golden ointment,” which is a compound of mercury, will cure the condition rapidly.
-
He got up onto his hands and knees and felt carefully round inside the byre, but there was nothing even faintly edible—only a scurf of moldy hay.
Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010
-
He got up onto his hands and knees and felt carefully round inside the byre, but there was nothing even faintly edible—only a scurf of moldy hay.
Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010
-
He got up onto his hands and knees and felt carefully round inside the byre, but there was nothing even faintly edible—only a scurf of moldy hay.
Songs of Love & Death George R. R. Martin 2010
-
Match weed or broomweed, scurf-pea, sunflowers, goldenrods, and ragweed occur from Oklahoma into Canada.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.