Definition of "scratch"

scratch

/skɹæt͡ʃ/

verb
third-person singular simple present scratches, present participle scratching, simple past and past participle scratched
1. To rub a surface with a sharp object, especially by a living creature to remove itching with nails, claws, etc.
  Quotations
  Then riſing with Aurora’s Light, / The Muse invok’d, ſit down to write; / Blot out, correct, inſert, refine, / Enlarge, diminiſh, interline; / Be mindful, when Invention fails, / To ſcratch your Head, and bite your Nails.
  1733, [Jonathan Swift], On Poetry: A Rapsody, Dublin, London: […] [R. Fleming] [a]nd sold by J. Huggonson, […], pages 7–8, lines 85–90
2. To rub the skin with rough material causing a sensation of irritation; to cause itching.
  Quotations
  Sometimes I lost track of them and had to hunt round in a circle, thrusting through sharp-scented bushes, scratching myself [translating m’écorchant] on various plants which were still new to me: resinaceous rock-roses, juniper, ilex, yellow and white asphodel.
  1962, Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Peter Green, The Prime of Life, Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Company, translation of La Force de l'âge, page 77
  1. To irritate someone's skin with one's unshaven beard when kissing.
3. To mark a surface with a sharp object, thereby leaving a scratch (noun).
4. (of a surface) to get such scratches
5. To cross out, strike out, strike through some text on a page.
  1. Hence, to remove, ignore, or delete.
6. (music) To produce a distinctive sound on a turntable by moving a vinyl record back and forth while manipulating the crossfader (see also scratching).
7. (billiards) To commit a foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
8. (billiards, dated, US) To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.
9. To write or draw hastily or awkwardly; scrawl.
  Quotations
  If any of the Labourers can ſcratch out a Pamphlet, they deſire no more; There is no Queſtion offered about the Wit, the Style, the Argument.
  1714 February, [Jonathan Swift], The Publick Spirit of the Whigs: Set forth in Their Generous Encouragement of the Author of the Crisis: […], 3rd edition, London: […] [John Barber] for John Morphew, […], published 1714, page 1
10. (transitive, intransitive) To dig or excavate with the claws.
11. To dig or scrape (a person's skin) with claws or fingernails in self-defense or with the intention to injure.
12. (swimming, athletics) To announce one's non-participation in a race or sports event part of a larger sports meeting that they were previously signed up for, usually in lieu of another event at the same meeting.
  Quotations
  Kerley, 26, is the 2019 World bronze medalist at 400 meters, a distance he is known for and with which he also won the 2017 and 2019 U.S. titles, but surprised the track world by announcing one week ago that he scratched the 400m and would focus on the 100m and 200m in Eugene, Oregon, despite not having raced the 100m between 2015 and 2020.
  2021 June 21, Brandon Penny, NBC Sports‎
  Hurtis-Houairi, in lane three, quickly caught Arron, who was in lane four, winning in 22.80. Arron, who scratched the 100m semis in order to focus on the longer sprint, could only run 23.44.
  2008 July 26, P-J Vazel, World Athletics‎
noun
countable and uncountable, plural scratches
1. A disruption, mark or shallow cut on a surface made by scratching.
  Quotations
  God forbid a shallow scratch should drive / The prince of Wales from such a field as this.
  1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene iv]
  The coarse file […] makes deep scratches in the work.
  1677–1683, Joseph Moxon, “(please specify the page)”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678–1683
  These nails with scratches deform my breast.
  1709, Matthew Prior, Henry and Emma‎, line 503
  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.
  1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […]
  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, […].
  1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess‎
2. An act of scratching the skin to alleviate an itch or irritation.
3. (sports)
  1. A starting line (originally and simply, a line scratched in the ground), as in boxing.
    Quotations
    He started a few seconds before the time and came up in speed to the scratch at the moment appointed.
    1820, Reuben Percy, Sholto Percy, The Percy Anecdotes
  2. 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.
  3. (cycling) The last riders to depart in a handicap race.
    Quotations
    Eventually the elephant and camel were despatched by themselves with two laps start of the bicyclist and horse, the motor car being scratch.
    1901, “Gleanings”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record‎, volume 4, number 1, page 31
  4. (billiards) An aberration.
    A foul in pool, as where the cue ball is put into a pocket or jumps off the table.
    (archaic, US, slang) A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.
  5. (horse racing) A horse withdrawn from a race prior to the start.
4. (meiosis) A minor injury.
5. (slang) Money.
  Quotations
  He and Bruce cooked up a script together, and Bruce flew home to raise the scratch.
  2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 153
6. A feed, usually a mixture of a few common grains, given to chickens.
7. (in the plural) 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.
  Quotations
  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 […].
  1887, James Law, The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser
8. (now historical) A scratch wig.
  Quotations
  [H]e turned to him with a dejected Face, and said ‘ – pray Sir, – could you touch up This a little?’ taking hold of his frightful scratch.
  1775, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, 26 March
9. (music) A genre of Virgin Islander music, better known as fungi.
10. Scrawled or illegible handwriting; chicken scratch.
  Quotations
  The handwriting in his paper is completely different when compared to his scratch on the note you gave me
  2017, P. L. Hawks, I Love Paris
adjective
not comparable
1. For or consisting of preliminary or tentative, incomplete, etc. work.
2. Hastily assembled, arranged or constructed, from whatever materials are to hand, with little or no preparation
  Quotations
  A scratch company of two innocuous youths and a pacified veteran was therefore what now offered itself to Mrs. Stringham, who rustled in a little breathless and full of the compunction of having had to come alone.
  1902, Henry James, The Wings of the Dove
  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.
  1988, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford, published 2004, page 740
3. (computing) Relating to a scratchpad, a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary use.
4. (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.
  Quotations
  ... 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.
  1964, Charles Price, The American golfer, page 48