Free Translator Free Translator
Translators Dictionaries Courses Other
Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Scratching   /skrˈætʃɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Scratch  v. t.  (past & past part. scratched; pres. part. scratching)  
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." "Be mindful, when invention fails, To scratch your head, and bite your nails."
2.
To write or draw hastily or awkwardly. "Scratch out a pamphlet."
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.)


Scratch  v. i.  
1.
To use the claws or nails in tearing or in digging; to make scratches. "Dull, tame things,... that will neither bite nor scratch."
2.
(Billiards) To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game. (Cant, U. S.)


adverb
Scratching  adv.  With the action of scratching.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Scratching" Quotes from Famous Books



... last pencil had stopped scratching Joe gathered the slips together and after a moment's figuring announced that Steve had been elected Number One without a dissenting vote, that he himself had been made Number Two and that Phil was Number Three. ...
— The Adventure Club Afloat • Ralph Henry Barbour
... I insist," he added more peremptorily, seeing that Briot—with the hesitancy peculiar to his kind—still made no movement to obey, but stood close by scratching his scanty locks ...
— The Bronze Eagle - A Story of the Hundred Days • Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
... dainties. When one thinks of the countless army of one's fellows who are daily selling their very souls for the barest necessaries of life, I suppose we—irresponsible beings—should be thankful to God for allowing us, by scratching and scraping all our lives, to keep a crust in our mouth and a rag on our back. I am not thankful, I have been guilty of what Pat would term a "digresshion"—I started about going for the mail at Dogtrap. Harold Beecham ...
— My Brilliant Career • Miles Franklin
... trouble and perplexity about Maurice, but his present strongest instinct was to get at a very fat fowl which, unconscious of danger, was scratching up worms at its leisure within almost reach of ...
— The Children's Pilgrimage • L. T. Meade
... a look of satisfaction through the chink of the door to the dark ditch outside. In the corral the hens were scratching the earth; a hog was rooting about, running in fright from one side to the other, grunting and quivering with nervous tremours; Reverte was yawning, blinking gravely, and one of the donkeys was wallowing delightedly amidst broken pots, decayed baskets and heaps of refuse, while ...
— The Quest • Pio Baroja


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 Free-Translator.com