Definition of "scarify" []

• To make shallow cuts in (the skin), as when vaccinating. (verb-transitive)
• To create a design on (the skin) by means of shallow cuts that are sometimes rubbed with a colorant or irritant to enhance the resulting scar tissue. (verb-transitive)
• To break up the surface of (topsoil or pavement). (verb-transitive)
• To distress deeply, as with severe criticism; lacerate. (verb-transitive)
• Botany To slit or soften the outer coat of (seeds) in order to speed germination. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I first learned about cassowaries when I was at the School for Field Studies SFS Center for Rainforest Studies in Fall of 1990 as a college student, and was fascinated that they're the only bird that can "scarify" certain rainforest seeds."
• "I really do not understand how senator Hillary can say she is for the people when she is coming with this when the result is to save $ 30.00 per diver you have to scarify 3000, 0000 jobs."
• "Bledri ap Rhys had come to Saint Asaph intending mischief, threatening mischief, and the cost had fallen on his own head, but the echoes would spread outward like ripples from a stone flung into a pool, and scarify the lives of all here until murder was paid for."