| Front | scratch |
|---|---|
| Back |  verb, noun, adjectiveBrE /skrætʃ/NAmE /skrætʃ/ verb rub with your nails1 [transitive, intransitive] to rub your skin with your nails, usually because it is itching~ sth/yourselfJohn yawned and scratched his chin. The dog scratched itself behind the ear.~ (at sth) Try not to scratch. She scratched at the insect bites on her arm. cut skin 2 [transitive, intransitive] to cut or damage your skin slightly with sth sharp~ (sb/sth/yourself)I'd scratched my leg and it was bleeding. Does the cat scratch?~ sb/sth/yourself on sth She scratched herself on a nail. damage surface 3 [transitive] ~ sth to damage the surface of sth, especially by accident, by making thin shallow marks on itBe careful not to scratch the furniture. The car's paintwork is badly scratched. make/remove mark 4 [transitive] ~ sth + adv./prep. to make or remove a mark, etc. on sth deliberately, by rubbing it with sth hard or sharpThey scratched lines in the dirt to mark out a pitch. Some graffiti had been scratched on the back of the door. We scratched some of the dirt away. (figurative) You can scratch my name off the list. make sound 5 [intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to make an irritating noise by rubbing sth with sth sharpHis pen scratched away on the paper. We could hear mice scratching behind the wall. a living 6 [transitive] ~ a living to make enough money to live on, but with difficulty75% of the population scratch a living from the soil. cancel 7 [transitive, intransitive] to decide that sth cannot happen or sb/sth cannot take part in sth, before it starts~ sb/sthto scratch a rocket launch~ sb/sth (from sth) The horse was scratched from the race because of injury.~ (from sth) She had scratched because of a knee injury.scratch your ˈhead (over sth)to think hard in order to find an answer to sthExperts have been scratching their heads over the increase in teenage crime.scratch the ˈsurface (of sth)to deal with, understand, or find out about only a small part of a subject or problemWe left feeling that we had just scratched the surface of this fascinating country.ˌyou scratch ˈmy back and ˌI'll scratch ˈyours (saying)used to say that if sb helps you, you will help them, even if this is unfair to othersˌscratch aˈbout/aˈround (for sth)to search for sth, especially with difficultyˌscratch sthˈoutto remove a word, especially a name, from sth written, usually by putting a line through it noun mark/cut1 [countable] a mark, a cut or an injury made by scratching sb's skin or the surface of sthHer 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 [singular] the unpleasant sound of sth sharp or rough being rubbed against a surface with your nails 3 [singular] the act of scratching a part of your body when it itchesGo on, have a good scratch!from ˈscratch1 without any previous preparation or knowledgeI learned German from scratch in six months. He built the orchestra up from scratch.2 from the very beginning, not using any of the work done earlierThey decided to dismantle the machine and start again from scratch.up to ˈscratchas good as sth/sb should be satisfactoryHis work simply isn't up to scratch. It'll take months to bring the band up to scratch. adjective (BrE)1 put together in a hurry using whatever people or materials are availablea scratch team 2 (especially in golf) with no handicapa scratch player |
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