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Webster 1913 Edition

Scrape

Scrape

(skrāp)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Scraped
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Scraping
.]
[Icel.
skrapa
; akin to Sw.
skrapa
, Dan.
skrabe
, D.
schrapen
,
schrabben
, G.
schrappen
, and prob. to E.
sharp
.]
1.
To rub over the surface of (something) with a sharp or rough instrument; to rub over with something that roughens by removing portions of the surface; to grate harshly over; to abrade; to make even, or bring to a required condition or form, by moving the sharp edge of an instrument breadthwise over the surface with pressure, cutting away excesses and superfluous parts; to make smooth or clean;
as, to
scrape
a bone with a knife; to
scrape
a metal plate to an even surface
.
2.
To remove by rubbing or scraping (in the sense above).
I will also
scrape
her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
Ezek. xxvi. 4.
3.
To collect by, or as by, a process of scraping; to gather in small portions by laborious effort; hence, to acquire avariciously and save penuriously; – often followed by together or up;
as, to
scrape
money together
.
The prelatical party complained that, to swell a number the nonconformists did not choose, but
scrape
, subscribers.
Fuller.
4.
To express disapprobation of, as a play, or to silence, as a speaker, by drawing the feet back and forth upon the floor; – usually with down.
Macaulay.
To scrape acquaintance
,
to seek acquaintance otherwise than by an introduction.
Farquhar.
He tried to
scrape acquaintance
with her, but failed ignominiously.
G. W. Cable.

Scrape

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To rub over the surface of anything with something which roughens or removes it, or which smooths or cleans it; to rub harshly and noisily along.
2.
To occupy one’s self with getting laboriously;
as, he
scraped
and saved until he became rich
.
“[Spend] their scraping fathers' gold.”
Shak.
3.
To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or like instrument.
4.
To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.

Scrape

,
Noun.
1.
The act of scraping; also, the effect of scraping, as a scratch, or a harsh sound;
as, a noisy
scrape
on the floor; a
scrape
of a pen
.
2.
A drawing back of the right foot when bowing; also, a bow made with that accompaniment.
H. Spencer.
3.
A disagreeable and embarrassing predicament out of which one can not get without undergoing, as it were, a painful rubbing or scraping; a perplexity; a difficulty.
The too eager pursuit of this his old enemy through thick and thin has led him into many of these
scrapes
.
Bp. Warburton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Scrape

SCRAPE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. scribo, Gr. to write. See Grave.]
1.
To rub the surface of any thing with a sharp or rough instrument, or with something hard; as, to scrap the floor; to scrape a vessel for cleaning it; to scrape the earth; to scrape the body. Job 2.
2.
To clean by scraping. Lev. 14.
3.
To remove or take off by rubbing.
I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. Ezek. 26.
4.
To act upon the surface with a grating noise.
The chiming clocks to dinner call; a hundred footsteps scrape the marble hall.
To scrape off, to remove by scraping; to clear away by rubbing.
To scrape together, to gather by close industry or small gains or savings; as, to scrape together a good estate.

SCRAPE

, v.i.
1.
To make a harsh noise.
2.
To play awkwardly on a violin.
3.
To make an awkward bow.
To scrape acquaintance, to make one's self acquainted; to curry favor. [A low phrase introduced from the practice of scraping in bowing.]

SCRAPE

, n.
1.
A rubbing.
2.
The sound of the foot drawn over the floor.
3.
A bow.
4.
Difficulty; perplexity; distress; that which harasses. [A low word.]

Definition 2024

scrape

scrape

English

Verb

scrape ‎(third-person singular simple present scrapes, present participle scraping, simple past and past participle scraped)

  1. To draw an object, especially a sharp or angular one, along (something) while exerting pressure.
    Her fingernails scraped across the blackboard, making a shrill sound.
    Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife.
  2. To injure or damage by rubbing across a surface.
    She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee.
  3. To barely manage to achieve.
    I scraped a pass in the exam.
  4. To collect or gather, especially without regard to the quality of what is chosen.
    Just use whatever you can scrape together.
  5. (computing) To extract data by automated means from a format not intended to be machine-readable, such as a screenshot or a formatted web page.
  6. To occupy oneself with getting laboriously.
    He scraped and saved until he became rich.
    • Shakespeare
      [Spend] their scraping fathers' gold.
  7. To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or similar instrument.
  8. To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.
  9. To express disapprobation of (a play, etc.) or to silence (a speaker) by drawing the feet back and forth upon the floor; usually with down.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Macaulay to this entry?)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

scrape ‎(plural scrapes)

  1. A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch).
    He fell on the sidewalk and got a scrape on his knee.
  2. A fight, especially a fistfight without weapons.
    He got in a scrape with the school bully.
  3. An awkward set of circumstances.
    I'm in a bit of a scrape — I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present.
  4. (Britain, slang) A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.
    • 1972, in U.S. Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Abuse of psychiatry for political repression in the Soviet Union. Hearing, Ninety-second Congress, second session, United States Government Printing Office, page 127,
      It’s quite possible, in view of the diagnosis ‘danger of miscarriage’, that they might drag me off, give me a scrape and then say that the miscarriage began itself.
    • 1980, John Cobb, Babyshock: A Mother’s First Five Years, Hutchinson, page 232,
      In expert hands abortion nowadays is almost the same as having a scrape (D & C) and due to improved techniques such as suction termination, and improved lighter anaesthetic, most women feel no worse than having a tooth out.
    • 1985, Beverley Raphael, The Anatomy of Bereavement: a handbook for the caring professions, Routledge, ISBN 0415094542, page 236,
      The loss is significant to the woman and will be stated as such by her. For her it is not “nothing,” “just a scrape,” or “not a life.” It is the beginning of a baby. Years later, she may recall it not just as a miscarriage but also as a baby that was lost.
    • 1999, David Jenkins, Listening to Gynaecological Patients\ Problems, Springer, ISBN 1852331097, page 16,
      17.Have you had a scrape or curettage recently?
  5. A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape.
    • 1948, in Behaviour: An International Journal of Comparative Ethology, E. J. Brill, page 103,
      We knew from U. Weidmann’s work (1956) that Black-headed Gulls could be prevented from laying by offering them eggs on the empty scrape veil before […]
    • 2000, Charles A. Taylor, The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia, Kingfisher Publications, ISBN 0753452693, page 85,
      The plover lays its eggs in a scrape on the ground. […] Birds’ nests can be little more than a scrape in the ground or a delicate structure of plant material, mud, and saliva.
    • 2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0801884292, page 95,
      Turkey females place their eggs in a shallow scrape in a hidden spot on the ground. Young are born ready to leave the nest and feed themselves (eating insects for their first few weeks).

Synonyms

Quotations

  • 2001, Carolyn Cooke, The Bostons, Houghton Mifflin Books, ISBN 0618017682, page 172–173,
    He could hear deer moo in the woods, smell their musk, spot a scrape in a birch tree twenty feet away.
  • 2005, Dragan Vujic, Hunting Farm Country Whitetails, iUniverse, ISBN 0595359841, page 58,
    Female whitetails periodically investigate scrapes created by specific bucks. As the doe approaches estrus and becomes receptive to breeding, she will urinate in a scrape as a sharp signal to the buck that she is ready for him.

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa ‎(“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian ‎(“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną ‎(“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb-, *skrep- ‎(“to engrave”). Cognate with Dutch schrapen ‎(“to scrape”), schrappen ‎(“to strike through; to cancel; to scrap”), schrabben ‎(“to scratch”), German schrappen ‎(“to scrape”), Danish skrabe ‎(“to scrape”), Icelandic skrapa ‎(“to scrape”), Walloon screper ‎(“to scrape”), Latin scribō ‎(“dig with a pen, draw, write”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: skrāp, IPA(key): /skreɪp/
  • Rhymes: -eɪp

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