Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Scrape

//skɹeɪp// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun

1
A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch). countable, uncountable
"He fell on the sidewalk and got a scrape on his knee."
2
an indication of damage wordnet
3
The sound or action of something being scraped. countable, uncountable
"For a long while, the only sounds in the café were the scrapes of forks against old white plates and occasional slurps from coffee mugs."
4
a deep bow with the foot drawn backwards (indicating excessive humility) wordnet
5
Something removed by being scraped; a thin layer of something such as butter on bread. countable, uncountable
"A little solace came at tea time, in the shape of a double ration of bread—a whole, instead of a half-slice—with the delicious addition of a thin scrape of butter: […]"

Show 12 more definitions

6
a harsh noise made by scraping wordnet
7
A fight, especially a fistfight without weapons. countable, slang, uncountable
"He got in a scrape with the school bully."
8
an abraded area where the skin is torn or worn off wordnet
9
An awkward set of circumstances. countable, uncountable
"I'm in a bit of a scrape — I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present."
10
A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage. British, countable, slang, uncountable
"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."
11
A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape. countable, uncountable
"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 […]"
12
A shallow pit dug as a hideout. countable, uncountable
"In between rounds, he dug a scrape for himself with his entrenching tool."
13
A shave. UK, countable, slang, uncountable
"A'm goin to the barber's for a scrape."
14
Cheap butter. UK, obsolete, slang, uncountable
15
Butter laid on bread in the thinnest possible manner, as though laid on and scraped off again. UK, obsolete, slang, uncountable
"“Got a nice bit of haddock for tonight. Thought I might do it with a poached egg, bit of pepper, bread and scrape”"
16
A diminutive of the bend (especially of the bend sinister) which is half its width. countable, uncountable
"Alternative form: scarpe"
17
An intermittent shallow pond in a wetland or floodplain, often artificially created to attract birds. countable, uncountable

Verb

1
To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure. ambitransitive
"She scraped the wooden plate with her fingernails."
2
scratch repeatedly wordnet
3
To remove (something) by drawing an object along in this manner. transitive
"Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife."
4
cut the surface of; wear away the surface of wordnet
5
To injure or damage by rubbing across a surface. transitive
"She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee."

Show 11 more definitions

6
bruise, cut, or injure the skin or the surface of wordnet
7
To barely manage to achieve or attain. transitive
"I scraped a pass in the exam."
8
gather (money or other resources) together over time wordnet
9
To collect or gather, especially without regard to the quality of what is chosen. transitive
"Just use whatever you can scrape together."
10
make by scraping wordnet
11
To extract data by automated means from a format not intended to be machine-readable, such as a screenshot or a formatted web page. transitive
"They didn't provide an API, so I simply scraped their website."
12
bend the knees and bow in a servile manner wordnet
13
To occupy oneself with getting laboriously. intransitive
"He scraped and saved until he became rich."
14
To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or similar instrument. ambitransitive
"Some people covered their ears when he started to scrape his violin."
15
To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow. intransitive
"Yossarian went along in Milo Minderbinder's speeding M & M staff car to police headquarters to meet a swarthy, untidy police commissioner with a narrow black mustache and unbuttoned tunic who was fiddling with a stout woman with warts and two chins when they entered his office and who greeted Milo with warm surprise and bowed and scraped in obscene servility as though Milo were some elegant marquis."
16
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.
"When the debate was resumed, the tide ran so strongly against the accused that his friends were coughed and scraped down."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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 *skrebʰ- (“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”).

Etymology 2

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: scrape