See Also: scratch(medicine)
Scratch(dictionary)
scratch(1)(dictionary)
scratch(2)(dictionary)
scratch test(medicine)
scratch paper(dictionary)
Fever, cat scratch(health)
Cat scratch disease(health)
Cat scratch fever(health)
Cat-scratch fever(health)

scratch(2) (iou)



scratch verb. LME.
[Prob. blend of SCRAT verb and CRATCH verb.]
a. verb trans. Make a long narrow superficial wound in the skin of, esp. by tearing with claws or fingernails. Also, score or mark the surface of by contact with a sharp pointed object. LME.
R. K. Narayan She and her sister had scratched each other's faces. G. Greene Her thighs..were scratched with briars.
b. verb trans. Tear or drag out or off with the claws or fingernails. E16.
Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona This foolish love, That like a testy babe will scratch the nurse.
c. verb intrans. Attack or wound a person or animal with the claws or fingernails (foll. by at). Also, produce a long narrow superficial wound or abrasion with a sharp or pointed object. L16.
T. Hood How the long brambles do scratch. H. Mantel She would..spit and scratch.
a. verb trans. Of a bird or animal: extricate or get out with the claws; (foll. by up) move (soil etc.) with the claws. E16.
F. Moryson They [jackals] had scratched up the earth.
b. verb intrans. Of a bird or animal: rake the surface of the ground with the claws, esp. in search of something; move soil etc. with the claws. M19.
R. Broughton Chanticleer scratching..on the dunghill.
a. verb intrans. Struggle to make money, amass and keep money etc. with difficulty. Now chiefly transf. in scratch around for, scratch for below. E16.
V. Palmer We'll have to scratch for another year..to pay off the new boat.
b. verb intrans. Barely manage, get along, on, through with difficulty. M19.
c. verb intrans. Depart in haste, make off with all speed. Freq. foll. by for. US colloq. M19.
d. verb trans. Produce or get with difficulty, scrape up. E20.
verb trans. & intrans. Rub or scrape without marking (a part of the body) with the fingernails or claws, esp. to relieve itching. M16.
Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream If my hair do but tickle me I must scratch. W. Golding She sniffed, scratched her nose. J. Barth Scratching a fly bite on one leg.
a. verb trans. Seize rapaciously (as) with the claws. L16-L17.
E. Ludlow If we take the people's liberties.., they will scratch them back.
b. verb intrans. Struggle fiercely for. L16-E17.
verb trans.
a. Make shallow linear abrasions on (a surface, esp. of a specified object or substance), as a result of contact with a harder object or substance; cause to be marked or damaged in this way. M17.
R. J. Sullivan Marble is soft, and can be scratched with a knife. J. D. Dana The stones..are sometimes scratched themselves.
b. Form or produce (an image etc.) by scratching. M17.
C. Middleton I had scratched..some faint resemblance of an image.
c. Furrow (the soil) very lightly for the purpose of cultivation. L17.
Dryden The..Swain Scratch'd with a Rake, a Furrow for his Grain.
d. verb trans. = SCRATCH-BRUSH verb. M19.
a. verb trans. Erase the name of (a person etc.) from a list; cancel or strike out (writing) with a pen, pencil, etc.; cross out. Also, expunge from a list of competitors or candidates; spec. withdraw (a competitor or candidate) from a race or other competition. L17.
Ld Macaulay The butler refused to scratch Hough's name out of the buttery book. Country Life Savon, one of the Newmarket hopes, has now been scratched by his owner.
b. verb trans. & intrans. Of a voter: erase the name of (a candidate or candidates) from the party ticket. US. M19.
c. verb intrans. Of a competitor or candidate: withdraw or be withdrawn from a race or other competition. Also joc., withdraw one's acceptance of an invitation. M19.
Athletics Today He pulled a muscle..and had to scratch from both finals.
d. verb trans. Cancel or abandon (an undertaking or project). E20.
a. verb intrans. Drag the fingernails or claws over a hard surface with a faint grating noise, esp. at a door as a signal for admittance. Also, (of a pen) move over the paper with a slight noise. E18.
Daily News He [a dog] scratched so persistently at the door.
b. verb trans. Scrape or rub (an object) on a hard surface with a faint grating noise. L19.
F. T. Buckland A match being scratched on a box for ignition.
c. verb intrans. & trans. Play (a record) using the scratch technique (SCRATCH noun1 7c). L20.
verb intrans. Of a horse: contract scratches in the pasterns. rare. M18.
verb intrans.
a. Scribble, write hurriedly or carelessly. E19.
Sir W. Scott I..scratched down another ballad.
b. Forge (banknotes or other papers). US slang. M19.
Billiards etc.
a. verb intrans. Make a stroke that incurs a penalty; spec. hit the cue-ball into a pocket. US. E20.
b. verb trans. Hit (the cue-ball) badly, incurring a penalty; spec. hit (the cue-ball) into a pocket. US. M20.
Phrases: scratch a and find a reveal the true or fundamental character of . scratch around for, scratch for make arduous efforts to obtain or find. scratch my back and I will scratch yours do me a favour and I will return it (freq. with ref. to a state of mutual aid or flattery). scratch one's head be perplexed, show perplexity. scratch the surface deal with a matter only in the most superficial way.
Comb.: scratch-back (a) a back-scratcher, esp. in the form of a small ivory or metal hand on a long handle; (b) a toy which makes a sound of tearing cloth when rubbed on a person's back; scratch blue a decoration of incisions filled with blue pigment found on 18th-cent. stoneware; (also scratch blue ware) stoneware so decorated; scratchboard = scraperboard s.v. SCRAPER.
scratchable adjective (rare) M19.
scratchingly adverb (rare) in a scratching manner L16.