scratch

scratch1 [ skrætʃ ] verb *

▸ 1 rub with your nails

▸ 2 damage surface

▸ 3 produce noise

▸ 4 remove someone/something

▸ 5 decide not to do something

▸ 6 write something quickly

▸ + PHRASES

1. ) intransitive or transitive to pull your nails along your skin, especially because you have an ITCH that makes you want to do this:

Stop scratching!

Scratch my back for me, will you.

2. ) transitive to cut someone's skin slightly with something sharp:

Don't worry; the cat won't scratch you.

The tree's branches had scratched his hands and they were bleeding.

a ) to damage a surface by marking it with something sharp or rough:

Someone's scratched my car door.

3. ) intransitive or transitive to move something sharp against a hard surface and make a noise:

scratch at: I could hear the dog scratching at the back door.

a ) intransitive to produce new sounds by moving a record backward and forward quickly with your hand while the STYLUS is resting on the record

4. ) transitive to remove something, for example a word from a sentence or something from a list

a ) to remove someone from a race before it begins

5. ) transitive INFORMAL to decide not to continue with something such as a plan or project

6. ) transitive INFORMAL to write something very quickly and carelessly

scratch someone's eyes out INFORMAL

to fight or argue with someone in a very angry and cruel way

scratch your head

to not understand something or not know how to deal with it:

The decision has left many party members scratching their heads.

scratch a living

to manage to earn only just enough money to live:

The farmer somehow managed to scratch a living from the arid land.

scratch the surface

to deal with only the simple or obvious parts of something:

We had only really scratched the surface of this fascinating country.

you scratch my back (and I'll scratch yours)

used for saying that two people each do something to help the other

╾ scratched adjective:

a badly scratched CD

,scratch a`round for phrasal verb transitive

scratch around for something to try to find something by looking everywhere, even in places you would prefer not to look in

,scratch `out phrasal verb transitive

to remove a word from a sentence or something from a list by drawing a line through it

scratch

scratch 2 [ skrætʃ ] noun *

1. ) count a cut on the surface of your skin:

Don't worry. It's just a scratch.

a ) count a thin mark on a surface:

There were some nasty scratches on the paintwork.

b ) singular used for emphasizing that someone is not hurt at all or something is not damaged at all:

Fortunately I walked away from the accident without a scratch.

a used car that doesn't have a scratch on it

2. ) count a sound made by moving something sharp or rough against a hard surface:

We heard the scratch of a cat's claws against a tree.

3. ) count usually singular the action of pulling your nails along your skin

from scratch

1. ) from a point where nothing has been done, so you have to do everything yourself:

It took only three years to write it from scratch.

2. ) from the beginning again, not using all the work you have done before:

We'll have to do the whole thing again from scratch.

up to scratch INFORMAL

good enough:

The hotels they recommended weren't up to scratch.

scratch

scratch 3 [ skrætʃ ] adjective

1. ) a scratch player is one who does not have a HANDICAP

2. ) a scratch team or game is one that is organized quickly using any players who are available