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Scrape vs Scratch - What's the difference?

scrape | scratch | Synonyms |

Scratch is a synonym of scrape.



As verbs the difference between scrape and scratch

is that scrape is to draw an object, especially a sharp or angular one, along (something) while exerting pressure while scratch is to rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.

As nouns the difference between scrape and scratch

is that scrape is a broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch) while scratch is a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.

As an adjective scratch is

for or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.

scrape

English

Verb

  • To draw an object, especially a sharp or angular one, along (something) while exerting pressure.
  • Her fingernails scraped across the blackboard, making a shrill sound.
    Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife.
  • To injure or damage by rubbing across a surface.
  • She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee.
  • To barely manage to achieve.
  • I scraped a pass in the exam.
  • To collect or gather, especially without regard to the quality of what is chosen.
  • Just use whatever you can scrape together.
  • (computing) To extract data by automated means from a format not intended to be machine-readable, such as a screenshot or a formatted web page.
  • To occupy oneself with getting laboriously.
  • He scraped and saved until he became rich.
  • * Shakespeare
  • [Spend] their scraping fathers' gold.
  • To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or similar instrument.
  • To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.
  • To express disapprobation of (a play, etc.) or to silence (a speaker) by drawing the feet back and forth upon the floor; usually with down .
  • (Macaulay)

    Synonyms

    * (draw an object along while exerting pressure) grate, scratch, drag * (injure by scraping) abrade, chafe, graze

    Derived terms

    * bow and scrape * scrape by * scrape off * scrape past * scrape through * scraper

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch).
  • He fell on the sidewalk and got a scrape on his knee.
  • A fight, especially a fistfight without weapons.
  • He got in a scrape with the school bully.
  • An awkward set of circumstances.
  • I'm in a bit of a scrape — I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present.
  • (British, slang) A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.
  • * 1972, in U.S. Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Abuse of psychiatry for political repression in the Soviet Union. Hearing, Ninety-second Congress, second session , United States Government Printing Office, page 127,
  • It’s quite possible, in view of the diagnosis ‘danger of miscarriage’, that they might drag me off, give me a scrape and then say that the miscarriage began itself.
  • * 1980, John Cobb, Babyshock: A Mother’s First Five Years , Hutchinson, page 232,
  • In expert hands abortion nowadays is almost the same as having a scrape (D & C) and due to improved techniques such as suction termination, and improved lighter anaesthetic, most women feel no worse than having a tooth out.
  • * 1985, Beverley Raphael, The Anatomy of Bereavement: a handbook for the caring professions , Routledge, ISBN 0415094542, page 236,
  • The loss is significant to the woman and will be stated as such by her. For her it is not “nothing,” “just a scrape ,” or “not a life.” It is the beginning of a baby. Years later, she may recall it not just as a miscarriage but also as a baby that was lost.
  • * 1999, David Jenkins, Listening to Gynaecological Patients\ Problems , Springer, ISBN 1852331097, page 16,
  • 17.Have you had a scrape or curettage recently?
  • A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape.
  • * 1948, in Behaviour: An International Journal of Comparative Ethology , E. J. Brill, page 103,
  • We knew from U. Weidmann’s work (1956) that Black-headed Gulls could be prevented from laying by offering them eggs on the empty scrape veil before […]
  • * 2000, Charles A. Taylor, The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia , Kingfisher Publications, ISBN 0753452693, page 85,
  • The plover lays its eggs in a scrape' on the ground. ¶ […] ¶ Birds’ nests can be little more than a ' scrape in the ground or a delicate structure of plant material, mud, and saliva.
  • * 2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World , Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0801884292, page 95,
  • Turkey females place their eggs in a shallow scrape in a hidden spot on the ground. Young are born ready to leave the nest and feed themselves (eating insects for their first few weeks).

    Synonyms

    * (injury ): abrasion, graze * (fight ): altercation, brawl, fistfight, fight, fisticuffs, punch-up, scuffle * (awkward set of circumstances ): bind, fix, mess, pickle * See also

    Quotations

    * 2001, Carolyn Cooke, The Bostons , Houghton Mifflin Books, ISBN 0618017682, page 172–173, *: He could hear deer moo in the woods, smell their musk, spot a scrape in a birch tree twenty feet away. * 2005, Dragan Vujic, Hunting Farm Country Whitetails , iUniverse, ISBN 0595359841, page 58, *: Female whitetails periodically investigate scrapes' created by specific bucks. As the doe approaches estrus and becomes receptive to breeding, she will urinate in a ' scrape as a sharp signal to the buck that she is ready for him.

    Derived terms

    * bread and scrape

    scratch

    Verb

    (es)
  • To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.
  • Could you please scratch my back?
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Be mindful, when invention fails, / To scratch your head, and bite your nails.
  • To rub the skin with rough material causing a sensation of irritation.
  • I don't like that new scarf because it scratches my neck.
  • To mark a surface with a sharp object, thereby leaving a scratch (noun).
  • A real diamond can easily scratch a pane of glass.
  • To remove, ignore or delete.
  • Scratch what I said earlier; I was wrong.
    When the favorite was scratched from the race, there was a riot at the betting windows.
  • (music) To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also ).
  • (billiards) To commit a foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
  • Embarrassingly, he scratched on the break, popping the cue completely off the table.
  • (billiards, dated, US) To score, not by skilful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.
  • To write or draw hastily or awkwardly.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Scratch out a pamphlet.
  • To dig or excavate with the claws.
  • Some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.

    Derived terms

    * scratch one's head * scratch the surface * scratcher * scratchpad * scratchy * scratch an itch * Old Scratch

    Synonyms

    * scrattle

    Noun

    (es)
  • (lb) A disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.
  • :
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:God forbid a shallow scratch should drive / The prince of Wales from such a field as this.
  • *(Joseph Moxon) (1627-1691)
  • *:The coarse filemakes deep scratches in the work.
  • *1709 , (Matthew Prior), '' Henry and Emma, line 503
  • *:These nails with scratches deform my breast.
  • *
  • *:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away, […].}}
  • An act of scratching the skin to alleviate an itch or irritation.
  • :
  • (lb)
  • #A starting line (originally and simply, a line scratched in the ground), as in boxing.
  • #:(Grose)
  • #A technical error of touching or surpassing the starting mark prior to the official start signal in the sporting events of long jump, discus, hammer throw, shot put, and similar. Originally the starting mark was a scratch on the ground but is now a board or precisely indicated mark.
  • #(lb) An aberration.
  • ##A foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
  • ## A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.
  • (label) Money.
  • *2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 153:
  • *:He and Bruce cooked up a script together, and Bruce flew home to raise the scratch .
  • A feed, usually a mixture of a few common grains, given to chickens.
  • (lb) 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.
  • *1887 , James Law, The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
  • *:These are exemplified in the scurfy, scaly affections which appear in the bend of the knee (mallenders) and hock (sallenders) and on the lower parts of the limbs, by scratches , and by a scaly exfoliation.
  • A kind of wig covering only a portion of the head.
  • Derived terms

    * from scratch * scratch-built * start from scratch * Old Scratch

    Adjective

    (-)
  • For or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.
  • This is scratch paper, so go ahead and scribble whatever you want on it.
  • Hastily assembled; put together in a hurry or from disparate elements.
  • * 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford 2004, p. 740:
  • Bluecoats began crossing the James on June 14 and next day two corps approached Petersburg, which was held by Beauregard with a scratch force of 2,500.
  • (computing, from scratchpad) Relating to a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary use.
  • Constructed from whatever materials are to hand.
  • (sports) (of a player) Of a standard high enough to play without a handicap, i.e. to compete without the benefit of a variation in scoring based on ability.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1964 , author=Charles Price , title=The American golfer , page=48 , passage=... the shot that does most to make a genuine scratch golfer is the mashie shot up to the pin — not merely up to the green.}}
  • Made, done, or happening by chance; arranged with little or no preparation; determined by circumstances; haphazard.
  • a scratch''' team; a '''scratch''' crew for a boat race; a '''scratch shot in billiards
    a scratch race: one without restrictions regarding the entry of competitors

    Derived terms

    * scratch monkey * scratch sheet

    References

    * * The Jargon File - Scratch