scurvy

1. (uncountable, pathology) A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth, and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes; (countable, obsolete) an occurrence of this disease.Examples: "Our legs now vs deceiue, / ſwolne euery ioint withall, / With this diſeaſe, which, by your leaue, / the Scuruie men doe call."; "[H]ee will go to the ſea, and teare the gold out of the Spaniards throats but he will haue it, byrlady when he comes there, poore ſoule hee lyes in brine in Baliſt, and is lamentable ſicke of the ſcuruies; […]"; "[W]hich excellent plant [scurvy-grass], Cæſars ſoldiers […] found to preuaile […] againſt that plague and hurtfull diſeaſe of the teeth, gums, and ſinevves, called the Scuruie, being a depriuation of all good bloode and moiſture, in the vvhole bodie, called Scorbutum; in Engliſh the Scuruie, and Skyrbie: […]"Synonyms: Barlow's disease, Cheadle-Möller-Barlow syndrome, Cheadle's disease, Moeller's disease, Möller-Barlow disease, scorbutusuncountableusually

2. (countable, figurative, derogatory) A contemptible or despicable person.Examples: "Row, row you scurvies, / She'll have us boiled in oil. / Move, move those creaking oars, / until you reach Cape soil."; "Muppet Treasure Island (1996) Avast! There be no treasure on this island, just a bunch of googly-eyed, synthetic scurvies staging a bastardized retelling of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure."; "Her friends kept writing her warning her that the man market was not that fortuitous, and filled [with] wormies, and scurvies, unctuous bedfellows that would make her chin jut out— […]"Synonyms: arsehole, ass, assface, asshat, asshole, asswipe, bastard, bitchcountablederogatoryfigurativelyusually

3. (uncountable, by extension, veterinary medicine, obsolete) A cattle disease, perhaps affecting the skin.broadlyobsoleteuncountableusually