SCRATCH: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for SCRATCH?

Need another word that means the same as “scratch”? Find 153 synonyms and 30 related words for “scratch” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Scratch” are: chafe, fray, fret, rub, engrave, grave, inscribe, excise, expunge, strike, itch, come up, scrape, scrape up, call off, cancel, scrub, scratch up, score, abrade, roughen, scuff, scuff up, lacerate, groove, gash, incise, gouge, graze, rasp, skin, rub raw, cut, bark, strip, flay, wound, claw, claw at, tear at, search, hunt, hunt around, cast about, cast round, cast around, rummage, rummage around, forage, forage about, poke about, poke around, scrabble, root, root around, scavenge, fish about, fish around, rake around, feel around, grope, nose about, nose round, nose around, ferret, ferret about, ferret around, scrimp, cross out, strike out, score out, delete, erase, remove, strike off, eliminate, obliterate, withdraw, pull out, pull out of, back out, back out of, bow out, bow out of, stand down, give up, leave, quit, abandon, scrap, drop, scratch line, start, starting line, dent, incision, prick, slit, boodle, bread, cabbage, clams, dinero, dough, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, loot, lucre, moolah, pelf, shekels, simoleons, sugar, wampum, mark, scar, chicken feed, scraping, scratching, abrasion, excoriation, cacography, scrawl, scribble, line, laceration, grate, grating, creak, creaking, grind, grinding, jar, rasping, rubbing, squeak, screech, screeching, cash, ready money

Scratch as a Noun

Definitions of "Scratch" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “scratch” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• A mark or wound made by scratching.
• A slight or insignificant wound or injury.
• An indication of damage.
• A handicap of zero, indicating that a player is good enough to achieve par on a course.
• Informal terms for money.
• (in sport) the starting point in a race for a competitor that is not given a handicap or advantage.
• A rough hiss, caused by the friction of the stylus in the groove, heard when a record is played.
• Money.
• A harsh noise made by scraping.
• A rasping or grating noise produced by something rubbing against a hard surface.
• A handicap of zero strokes.
• (golf) a handicap of zero strokes.
• Dry mash for poultry.
• A line indicating the location of the start of a race or a game.
• An act or spell of scratching oneself to relieve itching.
• Poor handwriting.
• A depression scratched or carved into a surface.
• A competitor who has withdrawn from competition.
• A technique, used especially in rap music, of stopping a record by hand and moving it back and forwards to give a rhythmic scratching effect.
• An abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off.

Synonyms of "Scratch" as a noun (62 Words)

abrasion	The process of scraping or wearing something away. There were cuts and abrasions to the lips and jaw.
boodle	Informal terms for money. He spent 30 million of his own boodle trying to buy a Senate seat.
bread	The bread or wafer used in the Eucharist. A bread roll.
cabbage	The leaves of cabbage eaten as a vegetable. I was becoming a 27 year old cabbage.
cacography	Poor handwriting.
cash	Prompt payment for goods or services in currency or by check. A discount for cash.
chicken feed	The flesh of a chicken used for food.
clams	Flesh of either hard shell or soft shell clams.
creak	A harsh scraping or squeaking sound. The creak of the floorboards gave him away.
creaking	A squeaking sound. We could hear the creaking of the deteriorating wood.
cut	A piece of meat cut from a carcass. His cut in the lining revealed the hidden jewels.
dent	A depression scratched or carved into a surface. It made a dent in my bank account.
dinero	Informal terms for money. Their pockets full of dinero.
dough	Informal terms for money. Add water to the flour and mix to a manageable dough.
excoriation	An abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off.
gelt	Informal terms for money.
gouge	An indentation or groove made by gouging.
grate	A harsh rasping sound made by scraping something.
grating	Optical device consisting of a surface with many parallel grooves in it; disperses a beam of light (or other electromagnetic radiation) into its wavelengths to produce its spectrum.
graze	A superficial abrasion.
grind	The act of grinding to a powder or dust. The slow grind of the US legal system.
grinding	A harsh and strident sound as of the grinding of gears. Vegetable grindings clogged the drain.
groove	A long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process such as erosion or by a tool as e g a groove in a phonograph record. Her vocals drift delicately across a soaring soul groove.
incision	A surgical cut made in skin or flesh. A block of marble delicately decorated with incisions.
jar	The quantity contained in a jar. He drank a jar of beer.
kale	A hardy cabbage of a variety which produces erect stems with large leaves and no compact head.
laceration	The act of lacerating. His laceration of his fellow Democrat.
lettuce	Used in names of other plants with edible green leaves e g lamb s lettuce sea lettuce.
line	Space for one line of print one column wide and 1 14 inch deep used to measure advertising. We follow the history of a family through the male line.
lolly	A lollipop or ice lolly. You ve done brilliantly raising all that lovely lolly.
loot	Private property taken from an enemy in war. The rooms were stuffed with the loot from Francis s expeditions into Italy.
lucre	The excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses. Officials getting their hands grubby with filthy lucre.
mark	A marking that consists of lines that cross each other. The owner s mark was on all the sheep.
moolah	Informal terms for money.
pelf	Informal terms for money. Damnation dog thee and thy wretched pelf.
rasp	Uttering in an irritated tone. The rasp of the engine.
rasping	Uttering in an irritated tone.
ready money	Poised for action.
rub	The act of rubbing or wiping. That was the rub she had not cared enough.
rubbing	Representation consisting of a copy as of an engraving made by laying paper over something and rubbing it with charcoal. Dab at the stain vigorous rubbing could damage the carpet.
scar	A mark left at the point of separation of a leaf, frond, or other part from a plant. Max could see scars of the blast.
score	A set of twenty members. Doyle s success brought imitators by the score.
scrape	A place where soil has been scraped away especially a shallow hollow formed in the ground by a bird during a courtship display or for nesting. There was a long shallow scrape on his shin.
scraping	A small amount of something that has been obtained by scraping it from a surface. The scraping of the spoon in the bowl.
scratch line	Poor handwriting.
scratching	A harsh noise made by scraping. Scratching temporarily relieves an itch but it often makes a skin problem worse.
scrawl	An example of hurried, careless writing. Reams and reams of handwritten scrawl.
screech	A loud, harsh, piercing cry. A screech of brakes.
screeching	A high-pitched noise resembling a human cry. He ducked at the screechings of shells.
scribble	Poor handwriting. Illegible scribbles.
scuff	The act of scuffing scraping or dragging the feet. Dark colours don t show scuffs.
shekels	Informal terms for money.
simoleons	Informal terms for money.
slit	A depression scratched or carved into a surface. Make a slit in the stem under a bud.
squeak	A short high-pitched noise. The door opened with a slight squeak.
start	The act of starting something. He had a ninety minute start on them.
starting line	A turn to be a starter (in a game at the beginning.
sugar	A sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants especially sugar cane and sugar beet consisting essentially of sucrose and used as a sweetener in food and drink. I ll have mine black with two sugars.
wampum	Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency. Strings of wampum.
wound	The act of inflicting a wound. A knife wound.

Usage Examples of "Scratch" as a noun

• A golfer who plays at scratch should be able to achieve par on a course.
• He gave his scalp a good scratch.
• A scratch mix.
• He plays off scratch in University golf.
• A 631-metres handicap, when the excellent stayer, Too Fast, will be off scratch.
• He was working to get some scratch together.
• The scratch of a match lighting a cigarette.
• The scratches on her arm were throbbing.
• It's nothing—just a scratch.

Scratch as a Verb

Definitions of "Scratch" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “scratch” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Make a rasping or grating noise by scraping something over a hard surface.
• Score or mark the surface of (something) with a sharp or pointed object.
• Withdraw (a competitor) from a competition.
• Make a living with difficulty.
• Remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line.
• Cause friction.
• Gather (money or other resources) together over time.
• Cancel or strike out (writing) with a pen or pencil.
• Make a long, narrow superficial wound in the skin of.
• (of a bird or mammal, especially a chicken) rake the ground with the beak or claws in search of food.
• Cancel or abandon (an undertaking or project.
• (of a competitor) withdraw from a competition.
• Carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface.
• Write (something) hurriedly or awkwardly.
• Remove (something) from something else by pulling a sharp implement over it.
• Rub (a part of one's body) with one's fingernails to relieve itching.
• Accomplish (something) with great effort or difficulty.
• Make (a mark or hole) by scoring a surface with a sharp or pointed object.
• Search for (someone or something that is hard to locate or find.
• Play a record using the scratch technique.
• Postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled.
• Cut the surface of; wear away the surface of.
• Scrape or rub as if to relieve itching.

Synonyms of "Scratch" as a verb (91 Words)

abandon	Forsake, leave behind. Fans invaded the pitch and the match was abandoned.
abrade	Scrape or wear away by friction or erosion. It was a landscape slowly abraded by a fine stinging dust.
back out	Give support or one’s approval to.
back out of	Be in back of.
bark	Of a dog fox or seal give a bark. He began barking out his orders.
bow out	Bend one’s knee or body, or lower one’s head.
bow out of	Bend the head or the upper part of the body in a gesture of respect or greeting.
call off	Order, summon, or request for a specific duty or activity, work, role.
cancel	Annul or revoke (a formal arrangement which is in effect. I intend to cancel your debt to me.
cast about	Formulate in a particular style or language.
cast around	Form by pouring (e.g., wax or hot metal) into a cast or mold.
cast round	Move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment.
chafe	Cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations. I chafed her feet and wrapped the blanket round her.
claw	Attack as if with claws. She was determined to claw her way out of poverty and find fame.
claw at	Attack as if with claws.
come up	Be found or available.
cross out	Fold so as to resemble a cross.
cut	Cut off the testicles of male animals such as horses. They cut her in public.
delete	Remove (data) from a computer’s memory. The passage was deleted.
drop	Let or cause to fall in drops. Pre tax profits dropped by 37 per cent.
eliminate	Eliminate from the body. Let s eliminate the course on Akkadian hieroglyphics.
engrave	Be permanently fixed in (one’s memory or mind. The image would be forever engraved in his memory.
erase	Wipe out digitally or magnetically recorded information. The file has been erased from the hard disk.
excise	Levy an excise tax on. The surgeon excised the tumor.
expunge	Obliterate or remove completely (something unwanted or unpleasant. The kind of man that could expunge an unsatisfactory incident from his memory.
feel around	Be conscious of a physical, mental, or emotional state.
ferret	Clear a hole or area of ground of rabbits with ferrets. I could show you how to ferret for rabbits.
ferret about	Hunt with ferrets.
ferret around	Search and discover through persistent investigation.
fish about	Seek indirectly.
fish around	Seek indirectly.
flay	Whip or beat (someone) so harshly as to remove their skin. She flayed the white skin from the flesh.
forage	(of a person or animal) search widely for food or provisions. The birds forage for aquatic invertebrates insects and seeds.
forage about	Wander and feed.
fray	Wear away by rubbing. The friction frayed the sleeve.
fret	Provide a musical instrument with frets. What shape the sea has fretted into the land.
give up	Estimate the duration or outcome of something.
gouge	Cut or force something out roughly or brutally. The channel had been gouged out by the ebbing water.
grave	Shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it. Engraved the trophy cup with the winner s name.
graze	Put (cattle, sheep, etc.) to feed on grassland. We grazed up and down the TV channels.
groove	Make a groove in or provide with a groove. Groove a vinyl record.
hunt	Use a hound or a horse for hunting. Goering often hunted wild boars in Poland.
hunt around	Oscillate about a desired speed, position, or state to an undesirable extent.
incise	Cut (a mark or decoration) into a surface. Figures incised on upright stones.
inscribe	Mark (a surface or object) with characters. The memorial is inscribed with ten names.
itch	Cause to perceive an itch. The bite itched like crazy.
lacerate	Cut or tear irregularly. Her true venom seems reserved for the media itself as she lacerates our obsession with celebrity.
leave	Leave unchanged or undisturbed or refrain from taking. She wants to leave.
nose about	Rub noses.
nose around	Search or inquire in a meddlesome way.
nose round	Push or move with the nose.
obliterate	Do away with completely, without leaving a trace. The memory was so painful that he obliterated it from his mind.
poke about	Search or inquire in a meddlesome way.
poke around	Poke or thrust abruptly.
pull out	Bring take or pull out of a container or from under a cover.
pull out of	Bring take or pull out of a container or from under a cover.
quit	Resign from (a job. The landlord issued a notice to quit.
rake around	Move through with or as if with a rake.
rasp	Scrape with a rasp. The horse has to be sedated for its teeth to be rasped.
remove	Remove from a position or an office. Remove a wrapper.
root	Take root and begin to grow. We explained how to manually root almost any Android device.
root around	Plant by the roots.
roughen	Make rough or rougher. Roughen the surfaces so they will stick to each other.
rub	Scrape or rub as if to relieve itching. Rub my hands.
rub raw	Move over something with pressure.
rummage	Find (something) by rummaging. Mick rummaged up his skateboard.
rummage around	Search haphazardly.
scavenge	Remove (combustion products) from an internal combustion engine cylinder on the return stroke of the piston. People sell junk scavenged from the garbage.
score	Decide on the scores to be awarded in a match or competition. The aim should be to score between fifty and one hundred mitotic cells.
score out	Induce to have sex.
scrabble	Feel searchingly. I had to scrabble around to find this apartment.
scrap	Discard or remove from service a redundant old or inoperative vehicle vessel or machine especially so as to convert it to scrap metal. Scrap the old airplane and sell the parts.
scrape	Make (a hollow) by scraping away soil or rock. She scraped the mud off her shoes.
scrape up	Scratch repeatedly.
scratch up	Cut the surface of; wear away the surface of.
scrimp	Be thrifty or parsimonious; economize. I have scrimped and saved to give you a good education.
scrub	Remove dirt by rubbing hard. The first two races had to be scrubbed because of blustery winds and rough seas.
scuff	Mar by scuffing. For kids who play rough shoes that won t scuff.
scuff up	Raise.
search	Look for information in a database or the World Wide Web using a search engine. The guards searched him for weapons.
skin	Of a wound form new skin. We had a few beers and then we skinned up.
stand down	Remain inactive or immobile.
strike	Undertake strike action against an employer. Strike a balance.
strike off	Hit against; come into sudden contact with.
strike out	Have an emotional or cognitive impact upon.
tear at	Strip of feathers.
withdraw	Withdraw from active participation. He failed to withdraw his remarks and apologize.
wound	Inflict a wound on. You really wounded his pride when you turned him down.

Usage Examples of "Scratch" as a verb

• He raps and scratches simultaneously to dazzling effect.
• Due to a knee injury she was forced to scratch from the race.
• Tabitha wondered how long the woman had been scratching a living on the waterways.
• He's still scratching around for a woman to share his life.
• Her arms were scratched by the thorns.
• They scratched a meager living.
• The hens cannot do anything that comes naturally to them, such as scratch around.
• I found two names scratched on one of the windowpanes.
• The lovers scratched their names into the bark of the tree.
• The name of Dr McNab was scratched out and that of Dr Dunstaple substituted.
• Don't scratch your insect bites!
• Jessica lifted her sunglasses and scratched her nose.
• Scratch that meeting–the chair is ill.
• Scratch that remark.
• The dog scratched to be let in.
• Many architects now scratch along doing loft conversions.
• The car's paintwork was battered and scratched.
• Jolie's Halo was scratched from a minor stakes race at Monmouth Park.
• He scratched at a stain on his jacket.
• My sweater scratches.
• I scratched myself on the tree.
• Banks seem prepared to scratch stabilization charges.
• He scratched away the plaster.

Associations of "Scratch" (30 Words)

abrade	Wear away. It was a landscape slowly abraded by a fine stinging dust.
abrasion	An area damaged by scraping or wearing away. There were cuts and abrasions to the lips and jaw.
awl	A small pointed tool used for piercing holes, especially in leather.
bingo	A game in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. A bingo hall.
bowdlerize	Edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate. Every edition of his letters and diaries has been bowdlerized.
chafe	Rub (a part of the body) to restore warmth or sensation. The collar chafed his neck.
delete	(of a section of genetic code, or its product) be lost or excised from a nucleic acid or protein sequence. If one important gene is deleted from an animal s DNA other genes can stand in.
dent	Mark with a dent. He hit a concrete bollard denting the wing.
erase	Remove recorded material from (a magnetic tape or medium); delete (data) from a computer’s memory. The magic of the landscape erased all else from her mind.
etching	A print produced by the process of etching. Etchings of animals and wildflowers.
excise	Levy an excise tax on. The surgeon excised the tumor.
excoriate	Express strong disapproval of. The discharge is acrid and excoriates the skin of the nose.
expulsion	The act of expelling or projecting or ejecting. Oxytocin causes expulsion of milk from the lactating mammary gland.
expunge	Remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line. The kind of man that could expunge an unsatisfactory incident from his memory.
expurgate	Remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from (a text or account. Editors heavily expurgated the novel before its initial publication.
fray	(of a male deer) rub (a bush or small tree) with the head in order to remove the velvet from newly formed antlers, or to mark territory during the rut. Bucks mark their territory by fraying small trees.
grate	Reduce food to small shreds by rubbing it on a grater. Peel and roughly grate the carrots.
incision	A mark or decoration cut into a surface. A block of marble delicately decorated with incisions.
irritation	The psychological state of being irritated or annoyed. The minor irritations of life.
itch	A contagious skin infection caused by the itch mite characterized by persistent itching and skin irritation. An itch to write fiction.
itching	An irritating cutaneous sensation that produces a desire to scratch.
knife	Cut or move cleanly through something with a knife like action. The victim was knifed to death.
lottery	A situation whose success or outcome is governed by chance. The election was just a lottery to them.
nail	Attach something somewhere by means of nails. I guess they were indeed impressed nailed it.
rub	An act of rubbing. He rubbed at the earth on his jeans.
scar	Mark with a scar or scars. He is likely to be scarred for life after injuries to his face arms and legs.
scrape	A place where soil has been scraped away especially a shallow hollow formed in the ground by a bird during a courtship display or for nesting. Remove the green tops from the carrots and scrape them.
scratching	A harsh noise made by scraping. Scratching temporarily relieves an itch but it often makes a skin problem worse.
scrub	An act of scrubbing something or someone. She scrubbed his back.
slit	Form one s eyes into slits squint. Slit the throat of the victim.