<B>SBA</B> (no periods) or <B>S.B.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) Small Business Administration. <BR> <I>Ex. SBA lends to small business, helps it get government contracts, provides information ... (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sband">
<B>S-band, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a band of ultrahigh radio frequencies ranging between 1550 and 5200 megahertz. <BR> <I>Ex. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena will use the S-band to study the nearsurface gravitational profile of the moon and the subsurface gravity anomalies such as mascons and impact craters (Science News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sbirro">
<B>sbirro, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ri.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in Italy) a policeman. </DL>
<A NAME="sblood">
<B>'sblood, </B>interjection.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) "God's blood," used as an oath. </DL>
<A NAME="sbr">
<B>SBR</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> styrene-butadiene rubber. </DL>
<A NAME="sc">
<B>sc</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> small capitals. </DL>
<A NAME="sc">
<B>sc.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an abbreviation for the following: <DD><B> 1. </B>he or she engraved or carved it (Latin, <I>sculpsit</I>). <DD><B> 2. </B>namely (Latin, <I>scilicet</I>). <DD><B> 3. </B>scale. <DD><B> 4. </B>scene. <DD><B> 5a. </B>science. <DD><B> b. </B>scientific. <DD><B> 6. </B>screw. <DD><B> 7. </B>scruple or scruples (in apothecaries' weight). </DL>
<B>SCA</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> Standard Consolidated Area (the official name in the United States for two or more adjacent metropolitan areas and additional counties, such as Greater Chicago). </DL>
<A NAME="scab">
<B>scab, </B>noun, verb, <B>scabbed,</B> <B>scabbing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a crust that forms over a sore or wound as it heals. <BR> <I>Ex. A scab formed on the spot where he was vaccinated.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a skin disease in animals, especially sheep; scabies or mange. <DD><B> 3a. </B>any one of several fungous or bacterial diseases of plants, usually producing dark, crustlike spots. <DD><B> b. </B>one of these spots. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) a workman who will not join a labor union or who takes a striker's place. <BR> <I>Ex. Thousands of workers poured through picket lines amid shouts of "scabs," "blacklegs" and "traitors" and into auto making factories (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) a rascal; scoundrel. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to become covered with a scab. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) to act or work as a scab. </DL>
<A NAME="scabbard">
<B>scabbard, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a sheath or case for the blade of a sword, dagger, or knife. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to put into a scabbard; sheathe. </DL>
<A NAME="scabbardfish">
<B>scabbard fish,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various fishes with a long, thin, silvery body and a long dorsal fin, such as a variety found in the Pacific off North America. </DL>
<A NAME="scabbed">
<B>scabbed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having scab or mange. <DD><B> 2. </B>covered with scabs. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete, Figurative.) mean; contemptible. </DL>
<A NAME="scabble">
<B>scabble, </B>transitive verb, <B>-bled,</B> <B>-bling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to shape or dress (stone) roughly. </DL>
<A NAME="scabbling">
<B>scabbling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a chip of stone. </DL>
<B>scabies, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a disease of the skin caused by mites that live as parasites under the skin and cause itching; the itch. </DL>
<A NAME="scabietic">
<B>scabietic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having scabies or mange. </DL>
<A NAME="scabiosa">
<B>scabiosa, </B>noun. <B>=scabious</B> (2).</DL>
<A NAME="scabious">
<B>scabious</B> (1), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=scabby.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or like scabies or mange. </DL>
<A NAME="scabious">
<B>scabious</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a group of herbs with long, tough stems and dense flower heads of various colors. </DL>
<A NAME="scabland">
<B>scabland, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an area stripped of topsoil by floodwaters, leaving low hills of bare rock, as in the Pacific Northwest. </DL>
<A NAME="scabrin">
<B>scabrin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a potent insecticide obtained as an oily yellow liquid from the roots of various plants of the composite family. </DL>
<A NAME="scabrous">
<B>scabrous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>rough with very small points or projections. <BR> <I>Ex. scabrous skin.</I> (SYN) scraggly. <DD><B> 2. </B>full of difficulties; harsh; thorny. <BR> <I>Ex. scabrous questions, a scabrous situation.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>hard to treat with decency; indelicate; risque. <BR> <I>Ex. The inhabitants mix, mate, and mismate in a series of scabrous sexual exercises (Time).</I> adv. <B>scabrously.</B> noun <B>scabrousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="scad">
<B>scad, </B>noun. =saurel.</DL>
<A NAME="scads">
<B>scads, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a large quantity or number. <BR> <I>Ex. scads of trouble, scads of people.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="scaffold">
<B>scaffold, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a temporary structure for holding workmen and materials during the construction, repair, or decoration of a building. <DD><B> 2. </B>a raised platform on which criminals are put to death, especially by hanging. <BR> <I>Ex. Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne (Lowell).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a platform, stage, or stand for exhibiting shows, seating spectators, or the like. <DD><B> 4. </B>any raised framework. <DD><B> 5. </B>scaffolding material. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to furnish with a scaffold; support with a scaffold. <BR> <I>Ex. The walls were scaffolded for the use of firearms (Scott).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="scaffolder">
<B>scaffolder, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a person who erects scaffolding. </DL>
<A NAME="scaffolding">
<B>scaffolding, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a scaffold or a system of scaffolds. <BR> <I>Ex. A fire which broke out in scaffolding that had been erected round it during repair work ... (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>materials for scaffolds. </DL>
<B>scalage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>an amount deducted, as from the listed weight or price, to allow for moisture, leakage, or the like. <DD><B> b. </B>the act of making such an allowance or deduction. <DD><B> 2. </B>the estimated board feet of lumber obtainable from a log, tree, stand of timber, or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="scalar">
<B>scalar, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>(Mathematics.) having or indicating magnitude, but no direction; capable of being described by a real number. Scalar quantities or measurements specify length, mass, time, temperature, and the like. <DD><B> 2. </B>capable of being represented by a point on a scale. <DD><B> 3. </B>of or resembling a musical or other scale. <BR> <I>Ex. a dozen choruses full of double-stops, immense scalar leaps ... (New Yorker).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> (Mathematics.) a scalar number or quantity, as distinguished from a vector. </DL>
<A NAME="scalare">
<B>scalare, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a small South American angelfish that has a silvery body with black bars and large fins, commonly raised in aquariums. </DL>
<B>scalation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the nature and form of the scales, as in fishes or snakes. </DL>
<A NAME="scalawag">
<B>scalawag, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Informal.) a good-for-nothing person; scamp; rascal. <BR> <I>Ex. They are mostly crooks and scalawags (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a white Southerner who acted with the Republican Party after the Civil War (an unfriendly term used by Southern Democrats). Also, <B>scallawag,</B> <B>scallywag.</B> </DL>
