scratch

Plural: scratches

Noun

• an abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off
• a depression scratched or carved into a surface
• informal terms for money
• a competitor who has withdrawn from competition
• a line indicating the location of the start of a race or a game
• dry mash for poultry
• a harsh noise made by scraping
• poor handwriting
• (golf) a handicap of zero strokes
  • "a golfer who plays at scratch should be able to achieve par on a course"
• an indication of damage
• A disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.
• An act of scratching the skin to alleviate an itch or irritation.
• 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.
• The last riders to depart in a handicap race.
• An aberration.
• A foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
• An aberration.
• A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.
• A horse withdrawn from a race prior to the start.
• A minor injury.
• Money.
• A feed, usually a mixture of a few common grains, given to chickens.
• 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.
• A scratch wig.
• A genre of Virgin Islander music, better known as fungi.
• Scrawled or illegible handwriting; chicken scratch.
• Nothing, zero. Used especially in card games or sports, but also expressions like "from scatch".

Verb

Verb Forms: scratched, scratching, scratches

• To make a thin, shallow cut or mark on a surface.
• cause friction
  • "my sweater scratches"
• cut the surface of; wear away the surface of
• scrape or rub as if to relieve itching
  • "Don't scratch your insect bites!"
• postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled
  • "scratch that meeting--the chair is ill"
• remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
  • "scratch that remark"
• gather (money or other resources) together over time
  • "they scratched a meager living"
• carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface
  • "the lovers scratched their names into the bark of the tree"
• 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 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).
• to get such scratches
• To cross out, strike out, strike through some text on a page.
• To cross out, strike out, strike through some text on a page.
• Hence, to remove, ignore, or delete.
• To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also scratching).
• To commit a foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
• To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.
• To write or draw hastily or awkwardly; scrawl.
• 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.
• To announce one's non-participation in a race or sports event part of a larger sports meeting that one was previously signed up for, usually in lieu of another event at the same meeting.

Adj

• 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
• Relating to a scratchpad, a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary use.
• (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.

Examples

• A real diamond can easily scratch a pane of glass.
• Could you please scratch my back?
• Embarrassingly, he scratched on the break, popping the cue completely off the table.
• He tried to SCRATCH out a win even with a notoriously bad set of tiles.
• Her skin was covered with tiny scratches.
• I can’t believe there is a scratch in the paint already.
• I don't like that new scarf because it scratches my neck.
• It's just a scratch!
• Scratch what I said earlier; I was wrong.
• Some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.
• The cat scratched the little girl.
• The dog sat up and had a good scratch.
• There were two scratches in race 8, which reduced the field from nine horses to seven.
• This is scratch paper, so go ahead and scribble whatever you want on it.
• This platter scratches easily.
• When the favorite was scratched from the race, there was a riot at the betting windows.

Synonyms

abrasion, boodle, bread, cabbage, cacography, call off, cancel, chafe, chicken feed, clams, come up, dent, dinero, dough, engrave, excise, excoriation, expunge, fray, fret, gelt, grave, incision, inscribe, itch, kale, lettuce, lolly, loot, lucre, mark, moolah, pelf, prick, rub, scar, scrape, scrape up, scraping, scratch line, scratch up, scratching, scrawl, scribble, scrub, shekels, simoleons, slit, start, starting line, strike, sugar, wampum, fungi, quelbe, scrabble

Anagrams of scratch