rub with your nails
1 ~ (at sth) to rub your skin with your nails, usually because it is ITCHING:
[VN] John yawned and scratched his chin. * The dog scratched itself behind the ear. * [V] Try not to scratch. * She scratched at the insect bites on her arm.
cut skin
2 ~ (sb/sth / yourself) (on sth) to cut or damage your skin slightly with sth sharp:
[VN] I'd scratched my leg and it was bleeding. * She scratched herself on a nail. * [V] Does the cat scratch?
damage surface
3 [VN] to damage the surface of sth, especially accidentally, by making thin shallow marks on it:
Be careful not to scratch the furniture. * The car's paintwork is badly scratched.
make / remove mark
4 [VN+adv./prep.] to make or remove a mark, etc. on sth deliberately, by rubbing it with sth hard or sharp:
They scratched lines in the dirt to mark out a pitch. * Some graffiti had been scratched on the back of the door. * We scratched some of the dirt away. * (figurative) You can scratch my name off the list.
make sound
5 [V] [usually +adv./prep.] to make an irritating noise by rubbing sth with sth sharp:
The dog kept scratching at the door to go out. * His pen scratched away on the paper. * We could hear mice scratching behind the wall.
a living
6 [VN] ~ a living to make enough money to live on, but with difficulty:
75% of the population scratch a living from the soil.
cancel
7 ~ (sb/sth) (from sth) to decide that sth cannot happen or sb/sth cannot take part in sth, before it starts:
[VN] to scratch a rocket launch * The horse was scratched from the race because of injury. * [V] She had scratched because of a knee injury.
IDIOMS
scratch your head (over sth) to think hard in order to find an answer to sth:
Experts have been scratching their heads over the increase in teenage crime.
scratch the surface (of sth) to deal with, understand, or find out about only a small part of a subject or problem:
We left feeling that we had just scratched the surface of this fascinating country.
you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours (saying) used to say that if sb helps you, you will help them, even if this is unfair to others
PHRASALVERBS
scratch about / around (for sth) to search for sth, especially with difficulty
scratch sth<->out to remove a word, especially a name, from sth written, usually by putting a line through it
mark / cut
1 [C] a mark, a cut or an injury made by scratching sb's skin or the surface of sth:
Her hands were covered in scratches from the brambles. * a scratch on the paintwork * It's only a scratch (= a very slight injury). * He escaped without a scratch (= was not hurt at all).
sound
2 [sing.] the unpleasant sound of sth sharp or rough being rubbed against a surface
with your nails
3 [sing.] the act of scratching a part of your body when it ITCHES:
Go on, have a good scratch!
IDIOMS
from scratch without any previous preparation or knowledge:
I learned German from scratch in six months. * They decided to dismantle the machine and start again from scratch. * He built the orchestra up from scratch.
(be / come) up to scratch
