scratch

IPA: skrˈætʃ

noun

  • A disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.
  • An act of scratching the skin to alleviate an itch or irritation.
  • (sports)
  • A starting line (originally and simply, a line scratched in the ground), as in boxing.
  • A technical error of touching or surpassing the starting mark prior to the official start signal in the sporting events of long jump, discus, hammer throw, shot put, and similar. Originally the starting mark was a scratch on the ground but is now a board or precisely indicated mark.
  • (cycling) The last riders to depart in a handicap race.
  • (billiards) An aberration.
  • A foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
  • (archaic, US, slang) A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.
  • (horse racing) A horse withdrawn from a race prior to the start.
  • (meiosis) A minor injury.
  • (slang) Money.
  • A feed, usually a mixture of a few common grains, given to chickens.
  • (in the plural) Minute, but tender and troublesome, excoriations, covered with scabs, upon the heels of horses which have been used where it is very wet or muddy.
  • (now historical) A scratch wig.
  • (music) A genre of Virgin Islander music, better known as fungi.
  • Scrawled or illegible handwriting; chicken scratch.
  • (programming) A free educational visual programming language developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.
  • A surname.

verb

  • To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.
  • To rub the skin with rough material causing a sensation of irritation; to cause itching.
  • To irritate someone's skin with one's unshaven beard when kissing.
  • To mark a surface with a sharp object, thereby leaving a scratch (noun).
  • (of a surface) to get such scratches
  • To cross out, strike out, strike through some text on a page.
  • Hence, to remove, ignore, or delete.
  • (music) To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also scratching).
  • (billiards) To commit a foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
  • (billiards, dated, US) To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.
  • To write or draw hastily or awkwardly; scrawl.
  • (transitive, intransitive) To dig or excavate with the claws.
  • To dig or scrape (a person's skin) with claws or fingernails in self-defense or with the intention to injure.
  • (swimming, athletics) To announce one's non-participation in a race or sports event part of a larger sports meeting that they were previously signed up for, usually in lieu of another event at the same meeting.

adjective

  • For or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.
  • Hastily assembled, arranged or constructed, from whatever materials are to hand, with little or no preparation
  • (computing) Relating to a scratchpad, a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary use.
  • (sports) (of a player) Of a standard high enough to play without a handicap, i.e. to compete without the benefit of a variation in scoring based on ability.
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Examples of "scratch" in Sentences

  • Scratching left a scar on his back.
  • Stop scratching with your fingernail.
  • The victims began to itch and scratch.
  • Rebecca is scratching the wall for nothing.
  • But it was watching another person scratching.
  • There are scratching noises on the roof of the car.
  • That barely scratches the surface of the revolution.
  • He is widely credited as the inventor of scratching.
  • Scratching with the tip of the blade is a beginner's error.
  • He explains the origin of the scratch in the documentary film Scratch.

Related Links

synonyms for scratchdescribing words for scratch
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