Scratch vs Chop - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between scratch and chop

is that scratch is (lb) a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching while chop is garbage, trash can.

As a verb scratch

is to rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.

As an adjective scratch

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

scratch

English

(wikipedia 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

chop

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) choppen, variant of (only attested in compounds). More at (l).

Noun

(en noun)

A cut of meat, often containing a section of a rib.

*1957 , :

*:I was standing at the meat counter, waiting for some rib lamb chops to be cut.

A blow with an axe, cleaver, or similar utensil.

(martial arts) A blow delivered with the hand rigid and outstretched.

Ocean waves, generally caused by wind, distinguished from swell by being smaller and not lasting as long.

(poker) A hand where two or more players have an equal-valued hand, resulting in the chips being shared equally between them.

Termination, especially from employment.

(dated) A crack or cleft; a chap.

Quotations

* (English Citations of "chop")

Synonyms

* axe, pink slip, sack

Verb

To cut into pieces with short, vigorous cutting motions.

chop wood

chop an onion

To sever with an axe or similar implement.

Chop off his head.

(baseball) To hit the ball downward so that it takes a high bounce.

(poker) To divide the pot (or tournament prize) between two or more players.

To do something suddenly with an unexpected motion; to catch or attempt to seize.

* L'Estrange

Out of greediness to get both, he chops at the shadow, and loses the substance.

To interrupt; with in'' or ''out .

* Latimer

This fellow interrupted the sermon, even suddenly chopping in.

Derived terms

* chop chop * chopper * chopping board * chop logic * chops * chopstick * choppy * karate chop * try out one's own chops

Etymology 2

Of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of (chap).

Verb

(obsolete) To exchange, to barter; to swap.

* 1644 , (John Milton), Aeropagitica :

this is not to put down Prelaty, this is but to chop an Episcopacy; this is but to translate the Palace Metropolitan'' from one kind of dominion into another, this is but an old canonicall sleight of ''commuting our penance.

* L'Estrange

We go on chopping and changing our friends.

To chap or crack.

(nautical) To vary or shift suddenly.

The wind chops about.

To wrangle; to altercate; to bandy words.

* Francis Bacon

Let not the counsel at the bar chop with the judge.

Noun

(en noun)

(mostly, in the plural) A jaw of an animal.

A movable jaw or cheek, as of a vice.

The land at each side of the mouth of a river, harbour, or channel.

East Chop'''; West '''Chop

A change; a vicissitude.

(Marryat)

Etymology 3

(etyl)

Noun

(en noun)

An official stamp or seal.

Mark indicating nature, quality, or brand.

silk of the first chop

Derived terms

* chop dollar * chop of tea * grand chop

Etymology 4

Shortening.

Noun

(en noun)

(internet) An IRC channel operator.

* 1996 , Peter Ludlow, High Noon on the Electronic Frontier (page 404)

IRC supports mechanisms for the enforcement of acceptable behaviour on IRC. Channel operators — "chanops" or "chops " — have access to the /kick command, which throws a specified user out of the given channel.

Synonyms

* chanop * op ----