scarification

plural scarifications

1. countableuncountableThe act of scarifying: raking the ground harshly to remove weeds, etc.
2. countableuncountableA medieval form of penance in which the skin was damaged with a knife or hot iron.
3. countableuncountableThe scratching, etching, burning / branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.
4. countableuncountablemedicineA route of administration for some vaccinations and tests: rather than hypodermic injection, the site is inoculated intradermally not with any injection but rather only with small, shallow pricks or scratches; the needle is not hollow.