Scratch vs Clutch - What's the difference?

Scratch is a related term of clutch.

As verbs the difference between scratch and clutch

is that scratch is to rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc while clutch is to seize, as though with claws.

As nouns the difference between scratch and clutch

is that scratch is (lb) a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching while clutch is the claw of a predatory animal or bird or clutch can be a brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs.

As adjectives the difference between scratch and clutch

is that scratch is for or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc work while clutch is (us) performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations.

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

clutch

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen, cleken, from (etyl) . Cognate with (etyl) , of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb. Alternative etymology derives Old English clyccan from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* (l), (l), (l) (dialectal) * (l), (l), (l), (l) (dialectal) * (l) (obsolete)

Verb

(es)

To seize, as though with claws.

to clutch power

* Collier

A man may set the poles together in his head, and clutch the whole globe at one intellectual grasp.

* Shakespeare

Is this a dagger which I see before me ? / Come, let me clutch thee.

To grip or grasp tightly.

She clutched her purse tightly and walked nervously into the building.

* Shakespeare

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand.

Noun

(es)

The claw of a predatory animal or bird.

(by extension) A grip, especially one seen as rapacious or evil.

* Cowper

the clutch of poverty

* Carlyle

an expiring clutch at popularity

* Bishop Stillingfleet

I must have little care of myself, if I ever more come near the clutches of such a giant.

* 1919 ,

You scold yourself; you know it is only your nerves—and yet, and yet... In a little while it is impossible to resist the terror that seizes you, and you are helpless in the clutch of an unseen horror.

A device to interrupt power transmission, commonly used between engine and gearbox in a car.

The pedal in a car that disengages power transmission.

Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle.

A small handbag or purse with no straps or handle.

* 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4

The clutch which I had made to save myself in falling had torn away this chin-band and let the lower jaw drop on the breast; but little else was disturbed, and there was Colonel John Mohune resting as he had been laid out a century ago.

(US) An important or critical situation.

Synonyms

* clutch bag (small handbag)

Adjective

(en adjective)

(US) Performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations.

* 2009 , Scott Trocchia, The 2006 Yankees: The Frustration of a Nation, A Fan's Perspective , page 21:

I start with his most obvious characteristic: he was clutch'. He is Mr. '''Clutch'''. In the last chapter I mentioned that Bernie Williams was '''clutch''', which was a valid assessment, but nobody on the Yankees was as ' clutch as Jeter was.

Etymology 2

Variant form of (cletch), from (etyl) .

Noun

(es)

A brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs.

A group or bunch (of people or things).

* 2012 , The Economist, 22nd Sep., Innovation in Government: Britain's Local Labs

No longer would Britons routinely blame the national government when things went wrong. Instead they would demand action from a new clutch of elected mayors, police commissioners and the like.

Alternative forms

Noun

(nb-noun-m1)

a (l) (device between engine and gearbox )

clutch pedal

trå in clutchen - step on the clutch

Synonyms

* (l) * (l)

References

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