excoriation
(ɛksˌkɔərɪeɪʃən)
[f. excoriate v.: see -ation. Cf. F. excoriation.]
1. The action of excoriating; the state of being excoriated: † a. the action or process of flaying (a man or beast (obs.)); b. the action of abrading a portion of the cuticle, or of the coating of any organ of the body; an instance of this; c. the action of stripping off (the bark of a tree).
| a. 1607 Brewer Lingua iii. v, A little before the excoriation of Marsyas. 1635 Austin Medit. 220 Some keep the day of his [Bartholomew's] Excoriation; and some, the day of his Decollation holy. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. ii. ix. 141 After the killing of the Holocaust, follows the excoriation, and dissection. |
| b. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 259 The reed flyx..wyth of the guttys excoryacyoun Sendyth owte sangweyn agestyoun. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. lxxx. 544 They drinke it [tragacanth]..against excoriation or knawing of the bladder. 1596 Danett tr. Comines 296 A sharpe sicknes of excoriation and the stone. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. xxii. 84 What Flagellations and Excoriations of the Body. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 133 ¶3, I was punished with artificial excoriations in hopes of gaining new graces with a new skin. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 99 The Germans..complained of a slight excoriation of the lips. 1813 W. Heberden in Med. Trans. (1815) V. 39 Stopping the Excoriation..consequent upon continual Pressure in Bed. 1844 Tupper Twins xv, Lash, lash, lash, in furious and fast succession..to the universal excoriation of Mr. Julian Tracy. |
| c. 1830 J. G. Strutt Sylva Brit. 125 The constant excoriation of the bark also produces a variety of hues. |
2. fig.| 1640 Howell Dodona's Gr. 207 Hee hath marvailously enhanc'd the revenues..of the Crowne, though with a pitifull excoriation of the poorer sort. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. Apol. 22 It is the excoriation and exulceration of mens spirits that usually causeth the smart. |
3. An excoriated place (on the body): a sore.
| c 1540 in Vicary's Anat. App. ix. (1888) 221 A plastre devised by the kinges Maiestie at Grenewich, and made at Westminstre, to..heale excoriacions. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., He had a grievous excoriation behind, with riding post. 1874 tr. Van Buren's Dis. Genit. Org. 19 The epithelium comes off in patches, leaving irregular excoriations. |
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[2.] b. Scathing criticism, invective; also, an instance of this.
| 1924 H. Crane Let. 5 Dec. (1965) 196 Factions, gossip, jealousies, recriminations, excoriations and the whole literary shee-bang. 1975 Economist 11 Oct. 38/1 Senator Hubert Humphrey..gave delight with his excoriation of President Ford's policies or lack of them. 1987 Legal Times 2 Mar. 6/1 ‘Bitter denunciations and excoriations’..against lawyers in general. |