A laceration is a deep, jagged cut or tear in the skin or flesh, while an abrasion is a shallower injury where the surface of the skin has been scraped or rubbed away. Think of a laceration as a cut that goes in, and an abrasion as a graze that stays on the surface.
The core difference
A laceration tears into the skin; an abrasion scrapes across its surface.
- laceration — a deep, jagged cut or tear in the skin or flesh: The doctor stitched up the laceration on his forehead.
- abrasion — a scraped area of skin where the surface has been rubbed or scratched off: He cleaned the abrasion on his knee after the fall.
How to tell them apart
Depth is the key difference. A laceration is jagged and goes into the flesh, often deep enough to need stitches, as with a wound stitched up on someone's forehead. An abrasion is shallower: it is what happens when skin is rubbed or scratched against a rough surface, like a graze on the knee after a fall, and it is usually cleaned and dressed rather than stitched.
Abrasion also has a broader, non-medical sense: the gradual wearing away of any surface through friction, such as wind-blown sand slowly abrading a cliff face over years. Laceration stays specific to torn skin or flesh.
