1 B1 neutral
To cancel or delete written text by drawing lines through it with a pen or pencil.
"She scratched out her first attempt and started the letter again from scratch."
separable
scratch out
B2 neutral separable transitive
To cancel or remove written words by drawing lines through them, or to laboriously write or carve something.
In plain English
To cross something out by scratching lines over it, or to slowly and carefully write or carve something.
What does "scratch out" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic informal
To manage to obtain or create something with great difficulty, especially a living or an existence.
"The settlers scratched out a living from the rocky soil for over a century."
separable
3 B2 neutral
To write or produce something hastily or laboriously, especially by hand.
"He scratched out a quick note and left it on the kitchen table before heading out."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To scratch (score a surface) something out (remove it or create it by scratching).
Actually means
To cross something out by scratching lines over it, or to slowly and carefully write or carve something.
Usage tip
Has two related senses: deletion (scratching out written text) and creation (scratching out a living, a note, words on a surface). The 'making a living' expression 'scratch out an existence/living' is a fixed idiom.
Words that pair with "scratch out"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
words name note living existence text
How to conjugate "scratch out"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
scratch out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
scratches out
he/she/it
Past simple
scratched out
yesterday
Past participle
scratched out
have + pp
-ing form
scratching out
continuous
Hear "scratch out" in the wild
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Other ways to say "scratch out"
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Keep exploring
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