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iIstoo
- New Member
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:22 am
- Status: English Learner
Post
by iIstoo » Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:47 pm
Hello,
I've found today the word
scathe 
. For my surprise http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ and http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ returned
no result for it

. Searching internet I found a definition in few other dictionaries, meaning
something not working e.g. "
My car was scathed.".
I'm wandering how popular is it as a verb?
I found it in all examples used as
scathing as a
severe critique. I'd appreciate your comments about it.
Thank you
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Joe
- Protector of the Boards

- Posts: 867
- Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2003 6:56 am
- Status: English Teacher
- Location: England
Post
by Joe » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:04 pm
It's surprising not to find "scathe" in those two dictionaries, albeit the verb is very rarely used. It does appear in the Apple Dictionary on my Mac where it is defined as to "harm; injure".
It's much more common as: "He escaped unscathed" or "He was barely scathed."
The adjective "scathing" is relatively common also, meaning "witheringly scornful; severely critical".
"We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood"
prayer of the Reverend Eli Jenkins in Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas