scrat 
II. in trans. 1. To scratch. 
Thet child . . . thet scratteth asenn, and bit [biteth] 
upon the jerde. Ancren Riwle, p. 188. 
2. To rake; search. 
Ambitious mind a world of wealth would haue, 
So scrats, and scrapes, for scorfe and scornie drosse. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 506. 
[Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
SCrat 2 t (skrat), n. [Early mod. E. also skrat; 
< ME. scrat, skrat, skratt, scratte, scart, scrayte, 
< AS. "scriet, an assumed form, for which is 
found the appar. deriv. scritta (for "scretta t), in 
a once-occurring gloss, a hermaphrodite, appar. 
orig. a 'monster,' = OHG. scraz, also scrdz, 
MHG. schraz, sclirdz, also OHG. scrato, MHG. 
schrate, schrat, G. scliratt, also OHG. MHG. 
screz, a goblin, imp, dwarf, = Icel. skratti, a 
goblin, wizard. Hence, from G., Slovenian 
shkrat, Bohem. skrzhet, shkratek, shkrzhitek = 
Pol. skrzot, a goblin. Cf. scratch^. It is possible 
that the AS. and E. sense is due to some literary 
association with L. scratta, scrattia, scratia, 
scrapta, an epithet applied to an unchaste wo- 
man.] 1. A hermaphrodite. Holland, tr. of 
Pliny, xxxix. 22. 2. A devil: in the phrase 
Aud Scrat, Old Scratch. See scratch?. 
scratch, 1 (skrach), v. [An extended form of 
scrat, due to confusion with cratch^: Bee scrat 1 
and cratch 1 , and cf. scotch?.'] I. trans. 1. To 
mark or wound slightly on the surface by the 
scraping or tearing action of something rough, 
sharp, or pointed. 
Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, 
Scratching her legs that one shall swear she bleeds. 
Shak., T. of the 8., Ind., ii. 60. 
A sort of small sand-coloured stones, so hard as to scratch 
glass. N. Grew, Museum. 
2. To rub or scrape, as with the finger-nails 
or with a scratcher, but without wounding or 
marking, as for the purpose of relieving itch- 
ing or irritation. 
When he read, he icratch'd his head, 
And rav'd like one that 's mad. 
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow (Child's Ballads, V. 388). 
Enlarge, diminish, interline; 
Be mindful, when invention fails, 
To scratch your head, and bite your nails. 
Swift, On Poetry. 
3. To write or draw hurriedly or awkwardly; 
scribble. 
If any of their labourers can scratch out a pamphlet, 
they desire no wit, style, or argument Swift. 
4. To dig, scrape, or excavate with the claws : 
as, some animals scratch holes in which they 
burrow. 5. To erase or blot out; obliterate; 
expunge. 
His last act is to try and get his name scratched, so that 
he may not die in the service of a stranger. 
W. H. Russell, Diary in India, I. 189. 
Specifically (a) In horse-racing, to erase, as the name of 
a horse, from the list of starters. 
How's the horse? . . . You haven't scratched him, have 
ye, at the last minute ? I tell ye, he'll cany all the money 
to-morrow ; and he ought to be near winning, too see if 
he won't ! W hyte Melville, White Rose, I. xiii. 
(6) In U. S. politics, to erase (the name of a candidate on a 
printed ballot) by drawing a line through it ; hence, to re- 
ject (a candidate). To scratch out, to erase ; rub out ; 
obliterate. =Syn. 1. Chafe, Abrade, etc. See scrape. 
II. intrans. 1. To use the nails, claws, or the 
like for tearing the surface, or for digging, as 
a hen. 
Dull tame things . . . that will neither bite nor scratch. 
Dr. H. More. 
The indefatigable zeal with which she scratched, and her 
unscrupulousness in digging up the choicest flower or 
vegetable for the sake of the fat earth-worm at its root. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, x. 
2. To relieve cutaneous irritation by the scrap- 
ing action of the nails or claws or of a scratcher. 
If my hair do but tickle me, I must scratch. 
Shot., M. N. D., Iv. 1. 28. 
3. In U. S. politics, to expunge or delete a name 
on a voting-paper or ballot ; reject one or more 
candidates on a regular party ticket, by cancel- 
ing their names before casting the ballot. 
The greatest scolds are notoriously partisans who have 
themselves scratched and bolted whenever it was their in- 
terest or pleasure to do so. The Century, XXXVII. 314. 
4. In billiards, to make a scratch or fluke. 
To scratch along, to scramble on ; get along somehow. 
[Colloq.] 
"Oh, I suspect we'll scratch along all right," Macarthy 
replied. H. James, Jr., Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 88. 
Where the hen scratches. See hen. 
scratch 1 (skrach), 11. and a. [< scratch^, e.] I. 
u. 1 . A break in the surface of a thing made by 
scratching, or by rubbing with anything point- 
ed; a slight furrow; a score: as, a scratch on 
wood or glass. 
541 fi 
The coarse file . . . makes dut-p tcrtrtchca in the work. 
J . Moxon, Mechanical Exercises. 
2. A slight wound ; a laceration ; a slight in- 
cision : as, he escaped with a mere scratch on 
the face. 
My greatest hurt 
Is but a scratch compar'd to mortal wounds. 
Beau. andFl. (?X Faithful Friends, iii. :t. 
3. pi. A disease in horses, consisting of dry 
chaps, rifts, or scabs between the heel and 
the pastern-joint. 4. In various contests: (a) 
The line from which the contestants start. 
The runners stand with their toes on the scratch, the 
starter calls " set," and the men assume the positions which 
they think will get them into their best speed the quick- 
est. Scribner'a Mag., VII. 777. 
The report reached us, and with a scurry the five ponies 
came away from the scratch, followed by a cloud of dust. 
The Century, XXXVIII. 403. 
The scratch, or line from which the jump is taken, is a 
joist, some five inches wide, sunk flush with the ground. 
The Century, XL. 207. 
(6) A line drawn across a prize-ring, to which 
boxers are brought in order to join fight. See 
to come >ip to the scratch, under come, (c) The 
starting-point or time of starting of a player 
or contestant who has to make the full score 
or who is allowed no odds in a handicap game 
or contest ; also, a player or competitor hold- 
ing such a position. 5. In billiards, a stroke 
which is successful, but not in the way in- 
tended; a fluke. 6. A kind of wig covering 
only a part of the head; a scratch-wig. 
When I was last at Paris, no person of any condition, 
male or female, appeared but in full dress, . . . and there 
was not such a thing to be seen as a peruque ronde; but 
at present I see a number of frocks and scratches In a morn- 
ing in the street* of this metropolis. 
Smollett, Travels, vi. (Dames.) 
7. A calcareous, earthy, or stony substance 
which separates from sea-water in boiling it for 
salt. Sees. 8. A scrawl. [Colloq.] 
"This is Chichely's scratch. What is he writing to you 
about? " said Lydgate, wonderingly, us he handed the note 
to her. George Eliot, Middlemarch, Ixxv. 
To come up to the scratch. See come. to toe the 
scratch, to come to the scratch ; be ready to meet one's 
opponent. [Colloq.] 
II. a. 1. Taken at random or haphazard, or 
without regard to qualifications; taken indis- 
criminately; heterogeneous: as, & scratch erew. 
[Colloq.] 
The corps is a family gathered together like what jock- 
eys call a "scratch team" a wheeler here and a leader 
there, with just smartness enough to soar above the level 
of a dull audience. Lever, Davenport Dunn, Ivi. 
2. Without handicap or allowance of time or 
distance : noting a race or contest in which all 
competitors start from the same mark or on even 
terms, or a competitor who receives no handi- 
cap allowance Scratch division. See division. 
scratch 2 (skrach), . [In the phrase Old Scratch, 
a var. of scrafi, as in the dial. Aud Scrat, the 
devil: see scraft. Cf. scratch^, var. of sera ft."] 
A devil: only in the phrase Old Scratch, the 
devil. 
SCratch-awl (skrach'al), n. A scriber or scribe- 
awl. 
scratch-back (skrach'bak), n. Same as back- 
scratcher, 1. 
scratch-brush (skrach'brush), H. A name of 
various brushes, (a) A brush of hard, flne brass wire, 
used in metal-working, particularly by workers in flne 
metals and alloys and electroplaters, for operating upon 
metal surfaces to remove dead luster and impart bril- 
liancy. (6) A brush of iron or steel wire, used by brass- 
and iron-founders for cleaning sand from castings, (c) A 
brush of flne spun glass, sometimes used by electroplaters 
for imparting brilliant surfaces to articles of extreme deli- 
cacy. 
SCratch-COat (skrach'kot), n. In plastering, 
the rough coat of plaster first laid on. In two- 
coat plastering, it is also called, when laid on lath, the 
laying-coat, and when laid on brick the rendering-coat. 
In three-coat plastering, it is called the pricTcing-up coat 
when laid on lath, rouyhing-in coat when laid on brick. 
It is named scratch-coat from the fact that it is usually 
roughened by scratching the surface with a pointed in- 
strument before it is set hard, in order that the next coat 
may more strongly adhere to it. 
scratch-comma (skrach'kom''a), n. In print- 
ing, a diagonal line of the form /, used as a 
comma by Caxton. Compare solidus. 
scratch-cradle (skrach'kra/dl), n. Same as 
cat's-cradle. 
Scratched (skracht), a. [< scratch + -d 2 .] In 
ceram., decorated with scratches or rough in- 
cisions in the paste. Scratched lacquer. See 
lacquer. 
scratcher (skrach'er), n. [< scratch 1 , D., + 
-er l .~\ One who or that which scratches. Spe- 
cifically (a) An implement for scratching to allay irrita- 
tion. See back-scratcher. 1. (6) pi. Inornith., tlte Rasores or 
gallinaceous birds ; the scrapers, (c) In U. S. politic?, one 
scrawl 
whu erases a name or names from a ballot before voting 
it ; one who rejects one or more names on a ticket, (d) A 
day-book. [U. S.] 
He [a bank-teller] would not enter deposits in his scratcher 
after a certain hour. Phila. Ledger, Dec. 30, 1887. 
scratch-figure (skrach'fig"ijr), n. In printing, 
a type of a figure crossed by an erasing line: 
used in elementary arithmetics to illustrate 
canceling. 
Scratch-finish (skrach'fin"ish), w. A finish for 
decorative objects of metal-work, in which a 
surface otherwise smooth is diversified by small 
curved scratches forming irregular scrolls over 
the whole field. 
scratch-grass (skrach ' gras), . 1. The ar- 
row-leafed tear-thumb, Polygonum sagittatum. 
[U. S.] 2. Same as scratchweed. 
SCratchingly (skrach'ing-li),a4r. With scratch- 
ing action. [Rare.] 
Like a cat, when scratchingly she wheels about after a 
mouse. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, ii 
ScratchingS (skrach'ingz), n. pi. [Cf. scratch*, 
n., 1. Possibly it may be a corruption of sear- 
cings,< searce, a sieve.] Refuse matter strained 
out of fat when it is melted and purified; 
scraps. [Prov. Eng.] 
She'd take a big cullender to strain her lard wi', and then 
wonder as the scratchins run through. 
Qeorye Eliot, Adam Bede, xviii. 
scratch-pan (skrach'pau), n. A pan in salt- 
works to receive the scratch. 
scratchweed (skrach'wed), n. The cleavers or 
goose-grass, Galium Aparine. The stems are prick- 
ly backward, and the leaves rough on the margin and 
midrib. [Prov. Eng.] 
scratch-wig (skrach'wig), n. A kind of wig 
that covers only a part of the head; a scratch. 
His scratch trig on one side, his head crowned with a 
bottle slider, his eye leering with an expression betwixt 
fun and the effects of wine. Scott, Ouy Mannering, xxxvi. 
scratch-work (skrach ' werk), . Wall-deco- 
ration executed by laying on the face of a 
building, or the like, a coat of colored plaster, 
and covering it with a coat of white plaster, 
which is then scratched through in any design, 
so that the colored ground appears; graffito 
decoration. 
scratchy (skrach'i), a. [< scratch + -yi."} 1. 
Consisting of mere scratches, or presenting the 
appearance of such ; ragged ; rough ; irregular. 
The illustrations, though a little scratchy, are fairly 
good. The Nation, XLVII. 461. 
2. Scratching; that scratches, scrapes, or 
grates: as, a scratchy pen; &scratchy noise. 3. 
Of little depth of soil ; consisting of rocks barely 
covered with soil : as, scratchy land. [Prov. 
Eng.] 4. Wearing a scratch-wig. 
Scratchy Foxton and he [Neubergl are much more toler- 
able together. Carlyle, in Froude (Life in London, xxiv.). 
SCrattle (skrat'l), v. i. ; pret. and pp. scrattled, 
ppr. scraltling. [Preq. of scrat 1 , v.] To scram- 
ble ; scuttle. [Prov. Eng.] 
In another minute a bouncing and scrattling was heard 
on the stairs, and a white bull-dog rushed in. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, I. iii. 
scrault, i'. An obsolete form of scrawl 1 . 
scraunch (skranch), r. t. Same as scranch or 
scrunch. 
SCraw(skra), n. [< Gael, scrath, sgraith, a turf, 
sod, greensward (sgrathan, a little peeling or 
paring), = Ir. scrath, a turf, = Vf.ysgrawen, a 
hard crust, what forms a crust.] A turf; a 
sod. [Ireland and Scotland.] 
Neither should that odious custom be allowed of cut- 
ting scraws (as they call them), which is flaying off the 
green surface of the ground to cover their cabins or make 
up their ditches. Stcift, Drapier's Letters, vii. 
scrawet, . An obsolete form of scrow. 
SCrawlH (skral), v. i. [Early mod. E. also scraul, 
scroll; < ME. scraulen, crawl; a form of crawl 
with intensive s prefixed : see crawl 1 ."] To 
creep ; crawl ; by extension, to swarm with 
crawling things. 
Y ryuer scrauled with the multitude of frogges in 
steade of fyszshes. Coverdale, Wisdom xix. 10. 
The ryuer shall scraule with frogges. 
Coverdale, Ex. viii. 3. 
scrawl 1 (skral), H. [< scrawl 1 , v. Indef. 2 per- 
haps suggested by trawl.] 1. The young of the 
dog-crab. [Prov. Eng.] 
On thy ribs the limpet sticks, 
And in thy heart the scraul shall play. 
Tennyson, The Sailor Boy. 
2. A trawl. [Newfoundland to New Jersey.] 
Scrawl 2 (skral), v. [Early mod. E. also scroll, 
a contr. form of scrabble, perhaps confused with 
seratf/ 1 .] I. ti'iiiin. 1. To draw or mark awk- 
wardly and irregularly with a pen, pencil, or 
