Scratches

How to spell scratches

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scratches

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scratches mean?

1. verbScrapes or rubs a surface with claws, nails, or something sharp.
2. nounThin marks or shallow grooves left on a surface by something sharp.

Scratches in a sentence

• verb

  The cat scratches at the back door whenever it wants to come inside.

• noun

  The second-hand phone had a few faint scratches across the screen.

• verb

  He scratches his head whenever a problem puzzles him.

• noun

  Deep scratches in the car door lowered its resale value.

Where does scratches come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word 'scratch' first appears in Middle English around the 1400s, and it seems to have arisen from a blend of two earlier verbs: 'scratten' and 'cratchen', both meaning 'to scrape or claw'. These came from Germanic roots related to the modern Dutch 'krassen' and German 'kratzen', each meaning 'to scratch'. The mingling of those two words helps explain the slightly awkward 'scr-' cluster at the front, which is the part that most often trips up writers. The '-es' ending is the regular English addition for both the plural of the noun and the third-person singular of the verb, and it is spelled '-es' rather than just '-s' because the word ends in the 'ch' sound. Over the centuries the meaning broadened from clawing to include light surface marks, the act of withdrawing from a contest ('scratched from the race'), and even the sense of money ('from scratch').

How the word is built

• scratch (to scrape with claws or nails)
• -es (plural noun / third-person singular verb suffix)