I. scratch 1 S3 /skrætʃ/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Probably from scrat 'to scratch' (13-19 centuries) + cratch 'to scratch' (13-16 centuries) ]
1 . RUB YOUR SKIN [intransitive and transitive] to rub your skin with your nails because it feels uncomfortable ⇨ itch :
John yawned and scratched his leg.
Try not to scratch.
scratch at
He was scratching at the bites on his arm.
2 . CUT SB’S SKIN [intransitive and transitive] to cut someone’s skin slightly with your nails or with something sharp:
She ran at him and scratched his face.
Don’t scratch yourself on the thorns.
3 . MAKE A MARK [transitive] to make a small cut or mark on something by pulling something sharp across it:
I’m afraid I’ve scratched your car.
Some of the prisoners had scratched their names on the walls.
4 . ANIMALS [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if an animal scratches, it rubs its feet against something, often making a noise:
A few chickens scratched around in the yard.
scratch at
a dog scratching at the door to be let in
5 . REMOVE SOMETHING [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to remove something from a surface by rubbing it with something sharp
scratch something off/away etc
I scratched away a little of the paint with my fingernail.
6 . REMOVE WRITING [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to remove a word from a piece of writing by drawing a line through it SYN cross out
scratch something from/off something
I have scratched his name from the list.
7 . MAKE A NOISE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to make a rough sound by moving something sharp across a surface:
His pen scratched away on the paper.
8 . scratch the surface to deal with only a very small part of a subject or problem
scratch the surface of
I think we have only scratched the surface of this problem.
9 . scratch your head informal to think carefully about a difficult question or problem:
This crisis has politicians scratching their heads and wondering what to do.
10 . STOP SOMETHING HAPPENING [transitive] informal if you scratch an idea or a plan, you decide that you will not do it SYN abandon
11 . REMOVE FROM RACE [intransitive and transitive] informal if someone scratches from a race, or if you scratch them from the race, they do not take part in it
12 . you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours spoken used to say that you will help someone if they agree to help you
⇨ scrape/scratch a living at ↑ living 2 (1)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ touch to put your fingers or hand onto someone or something for a very short time:
Don’t touch the iron – it’s hot!
▪ feel to touch something with your fingers in order to find out about it:
Feel how soft this material is.
|
I felt his forehead. It was cold.
▪ handle to touch something and pick it up and hold it in your hands:
Children should always wash their hands before handling food.
|
The glass was very fragile, and she handled it with great care.
|
Please do not handle the merchandise.
▪ finger to touch or handle something with your fingers, especially while you are thinking of other things:
She fingered the heavy necklace around her neck.
▪ rub to move your hand over a surface while pressing it:
Bob rubbed his eyes and yawned.
▪ scratch to rub part of your body with your nails, often because it ITCHES :
The dog kept scratching its ear.
|
Bob scratched his head thoughtfully.
▪ tickle to move your fingers lightly over someone’s body in order to make them laugh:
The baby giggled as I tickled him.
▪ grope to touch someone’s body in a sexual way when they do not want to be touched:
The officer was accused of groping several women in his platoon.
scratch around ( also scratch about British English ) phrasal verb
to try to find or get something which is difficult to find or get
scratch around for
homeless people scratching around for a place to shelter
scratch something ↔ out phrasal verb
to remove a word from a piece of writing by drawing a line through it SYN cross out :
Emma’s name had been scratched out.
II. scratch 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . CUT [countable] a small cut on someone’s skin:
There were deep scratches all over her face.
Don’t worry, it’s only a scratch (=not a serious injury) .
She was unharmed apart from a few cuts and scratches.
2 . MARK [countable] a thin mark or cut on the surface of something:
There was a big scratch on the car door.
3 . from scratch if you start something from scratch, you begin it without using anything that existed or was prepared before:
We had to start again from scratch.
He had built the business up from scratch.
4 . up to scratch British English informal good enough for a particular standard:
Some of this work isn’t up to scratch.
bring/get something up to scratch
We spent thousands of pounds getting the house up to scratch.
5 . RUB [singular] especially British English when you rub part of your body with your nails because it feels uncomfortable:
He stretched and had a scratch.
He brushed his hair and gave his scalp a good scratch.
6 . SOUND [countable] a sound made by something sharp or rough being rubbed on a hard surface:
I heard the scratch of an animal’s claws on the door.
III. scratch 3 BrE AmE adjective [no comparative]
1 . a scratch team or group of people has been put together in a hurry, using anyone that is available
2 . a scratch player in golf is very good and is not given any advantage in games