What is the difference between scratch and key?
scratch | key |
To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.
* Jonathan Swift
To rub the skin with rough material causing a sensation of irritation.
To mark a surface with a sharp object, thereby leaving a scratch (noun).
To remove, ignore or delete.
(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.
(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
To dig or excavate with the claws.
(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), ''
*: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 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.
For or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.
Hastily assembled; put together in a hurry or from disparate elements.
* 1988 , James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom , Oxford 2004, p. 740:
(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.
An object designed to open and close a lock.
* , chapter=13
, title= An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
A crucial step or requirement.
* (John Locke) (1632-1705)
* (1809-1892)
A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.
A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
(label) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.
(label) One of a number of rectangular moving parts on a piano or musical keyboard, each causing a particular sound or note to be produced.
(label) One of various levers on a musical instrument used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
(label) A hierarchical scale of musical notes on which a composition is based.
* 1881 , R.L. Stevenson, :
(label) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
* (William Cowper) (1731-1800)
(label) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
(label) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
(label) A piece of information (e.g. a passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
(label) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.
* 2000 , "Robert Erdec", Re: Help; mIRC32; unable to resolve server arnes.si'' (on newsgroup ''alt.irc.mirc )
(label) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
(label) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in an associative array.
(label) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.
(label) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
(label) Kilogram (though this is more commonly shortened to kay ).
* 2010 , David J. Silas, Da Block (page 41)
(label) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
(label) The last board of a floor when laid down.
(label) A keystone.
That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
(rail transport) A wooden support for a rail on the bullhead rail system.
(label) The object used to open or close a lock, often used as a heraldic charge.
Indispensable, supremely important.
* 2007 , Mark H. Moss, Shopping as an Entertainment Experience (page 46)
Important, salient.
* {{quote-book, year=2006, author=
, title=Internal Combustion
, chapter=2 * {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=September 29
, author=Jon Smith
, title=Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers
, work=BBC Sport
To fit (a lock) with a key.
To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
* 1996 January, Garden Dsign Ideas , second printing, (Taunton Press), ISBN 1561580791, page 25,
* 2001 , Bruce M. Metzger, The Bible in Translation , ISBN 0801022827, page 87,
* 2002 , Karen Bromley, Stretching Students' Vocabulary , ISBN 0439288398, page 12,
* 2007 , Stephen Blake Mettee, Michelle Doland and Doris Hall, compilers, The American Directory of Writer's Guidelines , 6th ("2007–2008") edition, ISBN 1884956580, page 757,
(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
(radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
(computing) (more usually to key in ) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.
(colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.
To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
* 1960 , Richard L. Masland, "Classification of the Epilepsies", in Epilepsia , volume 1, page 516,
* '>citation
* '>citation
(intransitive, biology, chiefly, taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
In context|music|lang=en terms the difference between scratch and key
is that scratch is (music) to produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also ) while key is (music) a hierarchical scale of musical notes on which a composition is based.In context|slang|lang=en terms the difference between scratch and key
is that scratch is (slang) money while key is (slang) kilogram.As verbs the difference between scratch and key
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 key is to fit (a lock) with a key.As nouns the difference between scratch and key
is that scratch is (countable) a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching while key is an object designed to open and close a lock or key can be one of a string of small islands.As adjectives the difference between scratch and key
is that scratch is for or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc work while key is indispensable, supremely important.scratch
English
(wikipedia scratch)Verb
(es)- Could you please scratch my back?
- Be mindful, when invention fails, / To scratch your head, and bite your nails.
- I don't like that new scarf because it scratches my neck.
- A real diamond can easily scratch a pane of glass.
- Scratch what I said earlier; I was wrong.
- When the favorite was scratched from the race, there was a riot at the betting windows.
- Embarrassingly, he scratched on the break, popping the cue completely off the table.
- Scratch out a pamphlet.
- Some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.
Derived terms
* scratch one's head * scratch the surface * scratcher * scratchpad * scratchy * scratch an itch * Old ScratchSynonyms
* scrattleNoun
(es)Henry and Emma, line 503
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, […].}}
Derived terms
* from scratch * scratch-built * start from scratch * Old ScratchAdjective
(-)- This is scratch paper, so go ahead and scribble whatever you want on it.
- 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.
- 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 sheetReferences
* *The Jargon File - Scratch
key
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) keye, kaye, . For the semantic development, note that medieval keys were simply long poles (ending in a hook) with which a crossbar obstructing a door from the inside could be removed from the outside, by lifting it through a hole in the door.Noun
(en noun)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.}}
- Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.
- who keeps the keys of all the creeds
- A girl, it is true, has always lived in a glass house among reproving relatives, whose word was law; she has been bred up to sacrifice her judgments and take the key submissively from dear papa; and it is wonderful how swiftly she can change her tune into the husband's.
- You fall at once into a lower key .
- if you know someone who is in the channel, you can query them and ask for the key .
- So starting with ten keys' of cocaine and two ' keys of heroin, Derrick put his plan in motion. Soon every major drug dealer and gang chief from Chicago Avenue to Evanston was in his pocket.
Derived terms
(Derived terms) * candidate key * card key * church key * foreign key * keyboard * keycard * key card * keychain, key chain * key fob, keyfob * keyhole * keynote * keypad * keyring, key ring * key signature * keystone * keystroke * keyword * major key * minor key * Morse key * primary key * public-key cryptography * skeleton key * unique keySee also
* clef * scale * (wikipedia "key") *Adjective
(en adjective)- He is the key player on his soccer team.
- Lukas intimates that one of Disney's key attractions was "Main Street USA,” which "mimicked a downtown business district just as Southdale" had done.
- She makes several key points.
citation, passage=Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.}}
citation, page= , passage=With the north London derby to come at the weekend, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp opted to rest many of his key players, although he brought back Aaron Lennon after a month out through injury.}}
Usage notes
The first meaning is distinguished by the definite article, as seen in the quotations.Verb
(en verb)- So I worked on a tissue-paper copy of the perimeter plan, outlining groupings of plants of the same species and keying them with letters for the species.
- The volume closes with thirty pages of "Notes, critical and explanatory," in which Thomson provides seventy-six longer or shorter notes keyed to specific sections of the synopsis.
- Talk about similarities between the words and write them below to the left of the anchor, keying' them with a plus sign (+). Talk about the characteristics that set the words apart and list them below the box to the right, ' keying them with a tilde sign (~).
- Indicate the comparative value of each heading by keying it with a number in pencil, in the left margin, as follows:
- Our instructor told us to key in our user IDs.
- He keyed the car that had taken his parking spot.
- The American Heart Association has prepared their own guide to classification and, keying it with the Standard Nomenclature of Diseases , have done much to encourage a concise yet complete diagnosis.
- (Francis)