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Scratch vs Nought - What's the difference?

scratch | nought |

As verbs the difference between scratch and nought

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 nought is to abase, to set at nought.

As nouns the difference between scratch and nought

is that scratch is (lb) a disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching while nought is nothing; something which does not exist.

As adjectives the difference between scratch and nought

is that scratch is for or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc work while nought is (obsolete) good for nothing; worthless.

As an adverb nought is

to no extent; in no way; not at all.

As a pronoun nought is

nothing; zero.

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

    nought

    English

    Alternative forms

    * naught, nocht (Scottish ), nowt

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Nothing; something which does not exist.
  • A thing or person of no worth or value; nil.
  • Not any quantity of number; zero; the score of no points in a game.
  • 0.4 (a number) = nought point four / zero point four
  • The figure or character representing, or having the shape of, zero.
  • Derived terms

    * noughties * noughty * dreadnought

    Adjective

    (head)
  • (obsolete) Good for nothing; worthless.
  • * 1611 , 20:14:
  • It is nought', it is ' nought , saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
  • Wicked, immoral.
  • * (rfdate) Fuller:
  • No man can be stark nought at once.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To abase, to set at nought.
  • * 1393 , , translated by Grace Warrack, 1901
  • In this naked word sin, our Lord brought to my mind, generally, all that is not good, and the shameful despite and the utter noughting' that He bare for us in this life, and His dying; and all the pains and passions of all His creatures, ghostly and bodily; (for we be all partly '''noughted''', and we shall be '''noughted''' following our Master, Jesus, till we be full purged, that is to say, till we be fully ' noughted of our deadly flesh and of all our inward affections which are not very good;)
  • * 1983 , : The Last Self-Help Book , page 25
  • The nought which is you has devoured the style and been sustained for a while as a non-you until the style is emptied out by the noughting self.
  • * 2001 , William Desmond, Ethics and the Between , page 507
  • Your usefulness is zero, your worth zero, and as zero you deserve to be treated as nothing, and in the extreme, noughted .
  • * 2003 , Wu Wei Wei, The Tenth Man: The Great Joke (which Made Lazarus Laugh) (ISBN 1591810078), page 81:
  • What is the use of noughting' yourself? Who is ' noughting who? What is the use of searching for yourself? Who is searching for who? There are not two of you ! You cannot find yourself, or the absence of yourself.

    Adverb

    (head)
  • To no extent; in no way; not at all.
  • Not.
  • Pronoun

    (head)
  • Nothing; zero.
  • See also

    * naught * ought

    References

    * * Notes: