scratch out
To cross something out by scratching lines over it, or to slowly and carefully write or carve something.
Meanings
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."
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."
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."
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.
Commonly used with
Forms
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Synonyms
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