What is the difference between scratch and itch?

As verbs the difference between scratch and itch

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 itch is to feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.

As nouns the difference between scratch and itch

is that scratch is (countable) a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching while itch is a sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch.

As a 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

itch

English

(wikipedia itch)

Alternative forms

* (noun) (l), (l), (l) (in Scotland)

Noun

(es)

A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch.

A desire or want.

Derived terms

* barber's itch * itchy * jock itch * seven-year itch

Verb

(es)

To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.

Capulet: ... Speak not, reply not, do not answer me; / My fingers itch . Wife, we scarce thought us blest / That God had lent us but this only child; / But now I see this one is one too much, / And that we have a curse in having her: / Out on her, hilding!

To want or desire.

He started learning to drive and he has been itching for opportunities to practice ever since.

To cause to feel an itch.

(colloquial) To scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.

* 2002 , M D Huddleston, Missing Paige :

"What makes you suspect him?" Max asked as he itched his neck.

* 2002 January 4, "Cyd" (username), Itching'', in alt.support.mult-sclerosis, ''Usenet :

I have to take both shoes and socks off! If I go bare foot I'm ok! I also get itching on my r/palm of my hand. I itch it so much that it's raw!

* 2003 November 21, "Jim Patterson" (username), Behavior Therapy for Itchy Clothes?'', in alt.support.ocd, ''Usenet :

Basically I go through a half hour of trying to figure out of it is an fake OCD itch or a regular itch before I itch it (if I determine it's a "fake" itch, then I try not to itch it).

* 2003 , Ray Emerson, The Riddle of Cthulhu :

Ulysses thumped his side and itched his back side, then slipped into his car.

* 2004 , Philip Smucker, Al Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail :

But when we asked more about the famous man whose specter still commanded the heights, the guard just sneered at me, pointed his gun back toward the road with one hand, and itched his chin with the other.

Derived terms

* make one's teeth itch

Anagrams

* *