/ skrætʃ; NAmE / verb , noun , adjective
■ verb
RUB WITH YOUR NAILS
1.
scratch (at sth) to rub your skin with your nails, usually because it is itching :
[ vn ]
John yawned and scratched his chin.
The dog scratched itself behind the ear.
[ v ]
Try not to scratch.
She scratched at the insect bites on her arm.
CUT SKIN
2.
scratch (sb/sth / yourself) (on sth) to cut or damage your skin slightly with sth sharp :
[ vn ]
I'd scratched my leg and it was bleeding.
She scratched herself on a nail.
[ v ]
Does the cat scratch?
DAMAGE SURFACE
3.
[ vn ] to damage the surface of sth, especially by accident, by making thin shallow marks on it :
Be careful not to scratch the furniture.
The car's paintwork is badly scratched.
MAKE / REMOVE MARK
4.
[ vn + adv. / prep. ] to make or remove a mark, etc. on sth deliberately, by rubbing it with sth hard or sharp :
They scratched lines in the dirt to mark out a pitch.
We scratched some of the dirt away.
( figurative )
You can scratch my name off the list.
MAKE SOUND
5.
[ v , usually + adv. / prep. ] to make an irritating noise by rubbing sth with sth sharp :
His pen scratched away on the paper.
A LIVING
6.
[ vn ] scratch a living to make enough money to live on, but with difficulty
CANCEL
7.
scratch (sb/sth) (from sth) to decide that sth cannot happen or sb/sth cannot take part in sth, before it starts :
[ vn ]
to scratch a rocket launch
The horse was scratched from the race because of injury.
[ v ]
She had scratched because of a knee injury.
•
IDIOMS
- scratch your head (over sth)
- scratch the surface (of sth)
- you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- scratch about / around (for sth)
- scratch sth out
■ noun
MARK / CUT
1.
[ C ] a mark, a cut or an injury made by scratching sb's skin or the surface of sth :
Her hands were covered in scratches from the brambles.
a scratch on the paintwork
It's only a scratch (= a very slight injury) .
He escaped without a scratch (= was not hurt at all) .
SOUND
2.
[ sing. ] the unpleasant sound of sth sharp or rough being rubbed against a surface
WITH YOUR NAILS
3.
[ sing. ] the act of scratching a part of your body when it itches :
Go on, have a good scratch!
•
IDIOMS
- from scratch
- up to scratch
■ adjective ( BrE )
1.
put together in a hurry using whatever people or materials are available :
a scratch team
2.
( especially in golf ) with no handicap :
a scratch player
••
WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : probably a blend of the synonymous dialect words scrat and cratch , both of uncertain origin; compare with Middle Low German kratsen and Old High German krazzōn .