MEANING
1. To make scratches or shallow incisions in skin or another surface.
2. To scratch or loosen the surface of soil or turf to improve it or prepare it for use.
3. To attack someone or something with severe verbal criticism.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- scarify the skin
- scarify a surface
On the page
Fine blades scarified the skin in a measured pattern.
The tool scarified the surface before the coating was applied.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- scarify
- Past tense
- scarified
- Past participle
- scarified
- Present participle
- scarifying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- scarify
- Present continuous
- am/is/are scarifying
- Present perfect
- have/has scarified
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been scarifying
- Past
- scarified
- Past continuous
- was/were scarifying
- Past perfect
- had scarified
- Past perfect continuous
- had been scarifying
- Future
- will scarify
- Future continuous
- will be scarifying
- Future perfect
- will have scarified
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been scarifying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: scarify; scarifies; scarified; scarified; scarifying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: scarifies.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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