SCRATCH

vt to write or draw hastily or awkwardly.

2. scratch ·noun a kind of wig covering only a portion of the head.

3. scratch ·vi to use the claws or nails in tearing or in digging; to make scratches.

4. scratch ·noun a shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.

5. scratch ·vi to score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.

6. scratch ·vt to dig or excavate with the claws; as, some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.

7. scratch ·add. ·noun in various sports, the line from which the start is made, except in the case of contestants receiving a distance handicap.

8. scratch ·noun a break in the surface of a thing made by scratching, or by rubbing with anything pointed or rough; a slight wound, mark, furrow, or incision.

9. scratch ·noun 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.

10. scratch ·noun a line across the prize ring; up to which boxers are brought when they join fight; hence, test, trial, or proof of courage; as, to bring to the scratch; to come up to the scratch.

11. scratch ·vt to cancel by drawing one or more lines through, as the name of a candidate upon a ballot, or of a horse in a list; hence, to erase; to efface;

— often with out.

12. scratch ·adj made, done, or happening by chance; arranged with little or no preparation; determined by circumstances; haphazard; as, a scratch team; a scratch crew for a boat race; a scratch shot in billiards.

13. scratch ·vt to rub and tear or mark the surface of with something sharp or ragged; to scrape, roughen, or wound slightly by drawing something pointed or rough across, as the claws, the nails, a pin, or the like.