scrapie

noun

scra·​pie ˈskrā-pē 

: a usually fatal prion disease of sheep and goats characterized by twitching, excitability, intense itching, excessive thirst, emaciation, weakness, and finally paralysis

Examples of scrapie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Gajdusek had come to the idea of injecting animals after a veterinary pathologist noticed that the brains of kuru patients resembled those of sheep with scrapie, a fatal neurological disease transmitted through exposure to infected tissues. — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Examples include mad cow disease, scrapie, Kuru, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 9 June 2022

Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, similar to mad cow disease, scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob. — Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Dec. 2021

Sheep have carried scrapie — effectively mad cow disease for sheep — for centuries. — Jim Robbins, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2020

Mad cow disease, for example, is a prion disease that rooted from scrapie, a deadly disease that afflicts sheep. — Fiza Pirani, ajc, 25 May 2018

Prions cause a variety of diseases in other animals, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (a prion disease in humans), scrapie (affecting sheep and goats), and chronic wasting disease (found in mule deer, elk, and reindeer). — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 26 Apr. 2018

This is the clearest evidence yet that alpha-synuclein can behave like prions, the proteins that cause mad cow disease, scrapie and Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD). — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 16 Nov. 2012

Word History

Etymology

scrape entry 1

First Known Use

1910, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for scrapie

• ai
• aye
• bae
• bi
• buy
• by
• bye
• chai
• chi
• cry
• die
• dry

Medical Definition

scrapie

noun

scra·​pie ˈskrā-pē 

: a usually fatal prion disease of sheep and goats that is characterized by twitching, excitability, intense itching, excessive thirst, emaciation, weakness, and finally paralysis