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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scratch \Scratch\, verb (used without an object)
1. To use the claws or nails in tearing or in digging; to make scratches.
Dull, tame things, . . . that will neither bite nor scratch. --Dr. H. More.
2. (Billiards) To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game. [Cant, U. S.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scratch \Scratch\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Scratched}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scratching}.] [OE. cracchen (perhaps influenced by OE. scratten to scratch); cf. OHG. chrazz[=o]n, G. kratzen, OD. kratsen, kretsen, D. krassen, Sw. kratsa to scrape, kratta to rake, to scratch, Dan. kradse to scratch, to scrape, Icel. krota to engrave. Cf. {Grate} to rub.]
1. To rub and tear or mark the surface of with something sharp or ragged; to scrape, roughen, or wound slightly by drawing something pointed or rough across, as the claws, the nails, a pin, or the like.
Small sand-colored stones, so hard as to scratch glass. --Grew.
Be mindful, when invention fails, To scratch your head, and bite your nails. --Swift.
2. To write or draw hastily or awkwardly. ''Scratch out a pamphlet.'' --Swift.
3. To cancel by drawing one or more lines through, as the name of a candidate upon a ballot, or of a horse in a list; hence, to erase; to efface; -- often with out.
4. To dig or excavate with the claws; as, some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.
{To scratch a ticket}, to cancel one or more names of candidates on a party ballot; to refuse to vote the party ticket in its entirety. [U. S.]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scratch \Scratch\, noun
1. A break in the surface of a thing made by scratching, or by rubbing with anything pointed or rough; a slight wound, mark, furrow, or incision.
The coarse file . . . makes deep scratches in the work. --Moxon.
These nails with scratches deform my breast. --Prior.
God forbid a shallow scratch should drive The prince of Wales from such a field as this. --Shak.
2. (Pugilistic Matches) A line across the prize ring; up to which boxers are brought when they join fight; hence, test, trial, or proof of courage; as, to bring to the scratch; to come up to the scratch. [Cant] --Grose.
3. pl. (Far.) 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. --Law (Farmer's Veter. Adviser).
4. A kind of wig covering only a portion of the head.
5. (Billiards) (a) A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke. [Cant, U. S.] (b) a shot which results in a penalty, such as dropping the cue ball in a pocket without hitting another ball. [1913 Webster +PJC]
6. In various sports, the line from which the start is made, except in the case of contestants receiving a distance handicap. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Scratch cradle}. See {Cratch cradle}, under {Cratch}.
{Scratch grass} (Bot.), a climbing knotweed ({Polygonum sagittatum}) with a square stem beset with fine recurved prickles along the angles.
{Scratch wig}. Same as {Scratch}, 4, above. --Thackeray.
{start from scratch} to start (again) from the very beginning; also, to start without resources.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scratch \Scratch\, adjective Made, done, or happening by chance; arranged with little or no preparation; determined by circumstances; haphazard; as, a scratch team; a scratch crew for a boat race; a scratch shot in billiards. [Slang]
{Scratch race}, one without restrictions regarding the entrance of competitors; also, one for which the competitors are chosen by lot.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
scratch
noun
1: an abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off [syn: {abrasion}, {scrape}, {excoriation}]
2: a depression scratched or carved into a surface [syn: {incision}, {prick}, {slit}, {dent}]
3: informal terms for money [syn: {boodle}, {bread}, {cabbage}, {clams}, {dinero}, {dough}, {gelt}, {kale}, {lettuce}, {lolly}, {lucre}, {loot}, {moolah}, {pelf}, {shekels}, {simoleons}, {sugar}, {wampum}]
4: dry mash for poultry [syn: {chicken feed}]
5: a harsh noise made by scraping; "the scrape of violin bows distracted her" [syn: {scrape}, {scraping}, {scratching}]
6: poor handwriting [syn: {scribble}, {scrawl}, {cacography}]
7: an indication of damage [syn: {scrape}, {scar}, {mark}]
verb
1: cause friction; "my sweater scratches" [syn: {rub}, {fray}, {fret}, {chafe}]
2: cut the surface of; wear away the surface of [syn: {scrape}, {scratch up}]
3: scrape or rub as if to relieve itching; "Don't scratch your insect bites!" [syn: {rub}, {itch}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
524 Moby Thesaurus words for "scratch": ablation, abort, abrade, abrasion, abrasive, adequate, anamorphosis, attrition, autolithograph, bad likeness, barbouillage, bark, barley, be a printmaker, belch, bezel, bird seed, birthmark, blackhead, blare, blat, blaze, blaze a trail, bleb, blemish, blister, bloody, blot, blot out, blotch, bore, botch, bran, brand, bray, bread, break, bruise, buffing, bulla, burlesque, burn, burnishing, burr, burrow, buzz, cackle, canal, canalize, cancel, caricature, cartoon, carve, cash, caste mark, casual, cat food, caw, cease, chafe, chafing, chalk, chalk up, chamfer, channel, character, charcoal, chase, check, check off, checkmark, chicken feed, chink, chip, chips, chirr, chisel, chiseling, chop, cicatrix, cicatrize, clang, clangor, clank, clash, claw, close, coin, color, comedo, competent, competitive, conclude, concussion, copy, corn, corrugate, corrugation, crack, crackle, cranny, crater, craunch, crayon, craze, crease, cribble, croak, cross out, cross-hatching, crosshatch, crump, crunch, cursoriness, cut, dado, damage, dapple, dash, dash off, daub, defacement, defect, define, deformation, deformity, dele, delete, delimit, delineate, delve, demarcate, demitint, depict, design, determine, detrition, diagram, dig, dig out, dike, discolor, discoloration, disfiguration, disfigurement, distortion, ditch, do double duty, dog food, doodle, dot, dough, draft, draw, dredge, dressing, drill, drive, earmark, eatage, efface, eliminate, elucubrate, enchase, end, engrave, engravement, engraving, ensilage, epidermis, erase, erasure, erosion, etch, etching, excavate, exclude, expunge, extempore, exteriority, fault, feed, filing, finish, finish up, flash burn, flaw, fleck, flick, flute, fluting, fodder, forage, fracture, fray, frazzle, freckle, fret, fretting, furrow, gall, galling, gash, gem-engraving, glass-cutting, gloss, glyptic, goffer, good enough, gouge, gouge out, grain, grate, grave, graving, graze, grazing, greenbacks, grind, grinding, groan, groove, growl, grub, grumble, gully, hack, half tint, haphazard, hasty, hatch, hatching, hay, hemangioma, hen scratches, hen tracks, hickey, hit the ball, hurried, hurt, hustle, impress, imprint, impromptu, incise, incision, informal, injure, injury, inscribe, inscript, inscription, itch, jack, jangle, jar, jot, keloid, kink, lacerate, laceration, lentigo, lesion, limation, limn, line, lining, lithograph, lower, lucubrate, macula, maim, make a mark, make mincemeat of, make prints, makeshift, mar, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, mash, maul, mazuma, meal, mere scratch, microgroove, milium, mine, misdraw, mispaint, mole, mortal wound, mottle, mutilate, mutilation, needle scar, nevus, nick, no depth, no water, notch, oats, obliterate, off the cuff, overwork, paint, paint a picture, parody, pasturage, pasture, patch, pattes de mouche, pencil, pepper, perorate, pet food, picture, picturize, pierce, pimple, pinprick, pit, pleat, plow, pock, pockmark, point, polishing, polka dot, port-wine mark, port-wine stain, portray, pothookery, pothooks, pothooks and hangers, pour it on, prick, prickle, print, provender, punch, punctuate, puncture, pustule, quarry, rabbet, rasp, rasping, raze, rend, rent, resolve, riddle, rifle, rifling, rift, rind, rip, rough, rub, rub off, rub out, rubbing away, ruck, rule out, run, rupture, rut, sandblasting, sanding, sap, satisfactory, savage, scab, scald, scar, scarification, scarify, scoop, scoop out, scorch, score, scoring, scotch, scouring, scrabble, scranch, scrap, scrape, scraping, scratch feed, scratch out, scratching, scrawl, scribble, scribbling, scrub, scrubbing, scrunch, scuff, sculpture, scumble, seal, seam, sebaceous cyst, second-degree burn, shade, shallowness, shining, shoaliness, shovel, silage, sink, sketch, skin, slash, slashing, slave, slightness, slit, slops, smoothing, snarl, snore, sore, spade, speck, speckle, splash, split, splotch, sponge, sponge out, spot, sprain, stab, stab wound, stain, stamp, stencil, stick, stigma, stigmatize, sting, stipple, stippling, stop, strain, straw, strawberry mark, streak, stria, striate, striation, strike off, strike out, stripe, sty, sufficient, sulcation, sulcus, superficiality, superficies, surface, sweat, swill, tattoo, tattoo mark, tear, terminate, third-degree burn, thrill, tick, tick off, tingle, tint, tittle, tool, tooling, trace, track, trauma, traumatize, travesty, trench, triviality, trough, tunnel, twang, twist, type-cutting, underline, underscore, unplanned, unpremeditated, unprepared, up to scratch, up to snuff, veneer, verruca, vesicle, wale, wampum, warp, wart, watermark, weal, wear, wearing away, well-worn groove, welt, wen, wheat, whitehead, wind up, wipe out, work hard, work late, work overtime, wound, wounds immedicable, wrench, wrinkle
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
scratch
1. [from 'scratchpad'] adjective Describes a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary-use purposes; one that can be {scribble}d on without loss. Usually in the combining forms 'scratch memory', 'scratch register', 'scratch disk', 'scratch tape', 'scratch volume'. See also {scratch monkey}. 2. [primarily IBM, also Commodore] vt. To delete (as in a file).
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
scratch
1. (From "scratchpad") Describes a data structure or recording medium attached to a machine for testing or temporary-use purposes; one that can be {scribble}d on without loss. Usually in the combining forms "scratch memory", "scratch register", "scratch disk", "scratch tape", "scratch volume". See also {scratch monkey}. 2. (primarily {IBM}) To delete (as in a file). [{Jargon File}] (1994-12-15)
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