Headway Word of the Week
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scratch (verb)
If you scratch something, you make marks in the surface. A person can scratch with fingernails, or with something sharp like a knife. An animal can scratch with its claws, and a tree or bush with thorns.
- The cat has scratched the door. I'll have to repaint it.
- Tom had an itchy nose, so he scratched it.
Check out what you can scratch.
You can scratch something that is itchy.
- Stop scratching that insect bite. You'll make it worse.
You can scratch something by accident.
- Paula scratched her leg climbing over the fence.
You can scratch something on purpose.
- Ben scratched his name in the trunk of the old tree.
You can scratch something off or out.
- It took hours to scratch the paint off the bicycle.
- Scratch out three boxes, and see if you have won a prize.
Check out these expressions
- You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours.
(= if you help me, I'll help you) - It's a difficult problem. All the senior managers have been scratching their heads for days.
(= thinking about a problem without finding a solution) - Although we know a lot more about life in the oceans than we used to, we have hardly scratched the surface
of this fascinating area of research.
(= we have only found out about a small amount) - At the dinner party, I couldn't think of anything to talk about. I was scratching around for something
to say.
(= desperately trying to find)
Check out these related words
- itch
- scrape
- tear
- cut
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