Scratching

How to spell scratching

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scratching

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scratching mean?

1. verbDragging fingernails, claws, or something sharp across a surface, often to relieve an itch or to leave a mark.
2. nounThe act or sound of dragging something sharp across a surface, or a technique of manipulating a record to make rhythmic sounds.

Scratching in a sentence

• verb

  The cat kept scratching at the back of the sofa.

• noun

  The constant scratching of branches against the window kept her awake.

• verb

  He was scratching his arm where the insect had bitten him.

• noun

  The DJ added some scratching over the steady drum beat.

Where does scratching come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base verb 'scratch' appeared in late Middle English, around the 1400s, and seems to be a blend of two older verbs with similar meanings: 'scrat', meaning to scrape or claw, and 'cratch', meaning to scratch or grate. Both of these had Germanic roots tied to words for scraping and clawing, with relatives in old Dutch and Low German forms such as 'kratsen'. The combined word settled on the sense of dragging nails, claws, or a sharp edge across a surface, whether to relieve an itch or to leave a mark. The '-ing' ending is the ordinary English suffix that turns a verb into its present participle or into a noun naming the action. The spelling trap lives in the cluster 'scr' at the front and the 'tch' before the ending: the silent 't' in 'tch' is what writers most often drop.

How the word is built

• scratch (to scrape with claws or nails)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)