- (n.) In various sports, the line from which the start is made, except in the case of contestants receiving a distance handicap.
- (a.) Made, done or happening by chance; arranged with little or no preparation; determined by circumstances; haphazard; as, a scratch team; a scratch crew for a boat race; a scratch shot in billiards.
- (n.) A break in the surface of a thing made by scratching or by rubbing with anything pointed or rough; a slight wound, mark, furrow or incision.
- (n.) Minute, but tender and troublesome, excoriations, covered with scabs, upon the heels of horses which have been used where it is very wet or muddy.
- (v.i.) To score, not by skillful play but by some fortunate chance of the game.
- (n.) A kind of wig covering only a portion of the head.
- (v.t.) 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.
- (v.t.) To dig or excavate with the claws; as, some animals scratch holes, in which they burrow.
- (v.t.) 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.
- (v.t.) To write or draw hastily or awkwardly.
- (n.) A shot which scores by chance and not as intended by the player; a fluke.
- (n.) A line across the prize ring; up to which boxers are brought when they join fight; hence, test, trial or proof of courage; as, to bring to the scratch; to come up to the scratch.
- (v.i.) To use the claws or nails in tearing or in digging; to make scratches.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). scratch. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/scratch/definitions/2059002 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "scratch" http://smartdefine.org/scratch/definitions/2059002 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, scratch, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/scratch/definitions/2059002>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "scratch" 28 May 2011. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/scratch/definitions/2059002> |