scarify

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
scarify1 /ˈskarɪfʌɪ, ˈskɛːrɪ-/

▶verb (scarifies, scarifying, scarified)

• 1 cut and remove debris from (a lawn).

• 2 break up the surface of (soil or a road or pavement).

• 3 make shallow incisions in (the skin), as a medical procedure or traditional cosmetic practice.

• 4 criticize severely and hurtfully.

– derivatives
scarification noun,
scarifier noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. scarifier, via late L. from Gk skariphasthai ‘scratch an outline’, from skariphos ‘stylus’.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
scarify2 /ˈskɛːrɪfʌɪ/

▶verb (scarifies, scarifying, scarified) (usu. as adj. scarifying) informal frighten.

– origin C18: formed irregularly from scare.