scratch
scratch [skrăch] verb
scratched, scratching, scratches
verb, transitive
1. To make a thin, shallow cut or mark on [a surface] with a sharp instrument.
2. To use the nails or claws to dig or scrape at.
3. To rub or scrape [the skin] to relieve itching.
4. To scrape or strike on an abrasive surface.
5. To write or draw [something] by scraping a surface: scratched their initials on a rock.
6. To write or draw hurriedly: scratched off a thank-you note.
7. a. To strike out or cancel [a word, for example] by or as if by drawing lines through. b. Slang. To cancel [a project or a program, for example].
8. Sports & Games. To withdraw [an entry] from a contest.
verb, intransitive
1. To use the nails or claws to dig, scrape, or wound.
2. To rub or scrape the skin to relieve itching.
3. To make a harsh, scraping sound.
4. To gather funds or produce a living with difficulty.
5. a. Sports & Games. To withdraw from a contest. b. Games. To make a shot in billiards that results in a penalty, as when the cue ball falls into a pocket or jumps the cushion.
noun
1. a. A mark resembling a line that is produced by scratching. b. A slight wound.
2. A hasty scribble.
3. A sound made by scratching.
4. a. Sports. The starting line for a race. b. Sports & Games. A contestant who has been withdrawn from a competition.
5. Games. a. The act of scratching in billiards. b. A fluke or chance shot in billiards.
6. Poultry feed.
7. Slang. Money.
adjective
1. Done haphazardly or by chance.
2. Assembled hastily or at random.
3. Sports. Having no golf handicap.
idiom.
from scratch
From the very beginning.
up to scratch Informal
1. Meeting the requirements.
2. In fit condition.
[Middle English scracchen, probably blend of scratten, to scratch cracchen, to scratch [possibly from Middle Dutch cratsen].]
scratchʹer noun