scratch

1 verb

1 RUB YOU SKIN (I, T) to rub your skin with your nails, especially because it itches (itch1 (1)): Try not to scratch those mosquito bites.

2 MAKE A MARK (T) to rub something sharp or rough against a hard surface so that it makes a thin mark: Mind you don't scratch the table with those scissors!

3 MAKE A CUT (I, T) to make a small cut by pulling something sharp against someone's skin: I scratched my hand on a blackberry bush. | Be careful. That cat scratches.

4 MAKE A NOISE (intransitive always + adv/prep) to make a noise by rubbing something with a sharp or pointed object: The dog kept scratching at the door to be let in.

5 REMOVE STH (transitive always + adv/prep) to remove something from a surface by rubbing it with something sharp: scratch sth off/away etc: I scratched away a little of the paint with my fingernail.

6 STOP PLANNING (T) to stop planning to do something because it is no longer possible or practical: I guess we can scratch that idea.

7 scratch the surface to deal with only a very small part of a subject: In this essay I can only hope to scratch the surface of the topic.

8 scratch your head informal to think hard about a difficult question or problem: The last question really had us scratching our heads.

9 REMOVE FROM RACE (I, T) to remove someone from a race or competition before it begins

10 up to scratch if something is up to scratch it is good enough: Kaari's French isn't up to scratch

11 you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours spoken used to say that you will help someone if they agree to help you

—see also: scrape/scratch a living living 2 (1) scratch sth out phrasal verb (T) to draw a line through a word, in order to remove it: Philippa's name had been scratched out. 2 noun

1 MARK OR CUT (C) a thin mark or cut on the surface of something or on someone's skin: a scratch on the car door

2 from scratch if you do or start something from scratch, you begin it without using anything that existed or was prepared before: It was years since I'd learnt any German, and I really had to start again from scratch.

3 not come/be up to scratch to not be good enough for a particular standard: His schoolwork really hasn't been up to scratch lately.

4 SOUND (C) a sound made by something sharp or rough being rubbed on a hard surface: I could hear the scratch of the dog's claws on the floor.

5 have a scratch to rub part of your body with your nails

6 it's only/just a scratch spoken used to say that you are not seriously hurt or injured

7 without a scratch if you escape from a dangerous situation without a scratch, you are not injured at all

8 MUSIC (U) a type of popular music produced by stopping a record while it is playing and moving it with your hands to make a sound

3 adjective (no comparative)

1 a scratch team, game, side etc is put together in a hurry, using anyone that is available

2 a scratch player in a sport does not have a handicap (=officially arranged disadvantage)