Scrape
[skreɪp] or [skrep]
Definition
(noun.) a deep bow with the foot drawn backwards (indicating excessive humility); 'all that bowing and scraping did not impress him'.
(noun.) a harsh noise made by scraping; 'the scrape of violin bows distracted her'.
(verb.) scratch repeatedly; 'The cat scraped at the armchair'.
(verb.) gather (money or other resources) together over time; 'She had scraped together enough money for college'; 'they scratched a meager living'.
(verb.) make by scraping; 'They scraped a letter into the stone'.
(verb.) bend the knees and bow in a servile manner.
Edited by Fergus--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To rub over the surface of (something) with a sharp or rough instrument; to rub over with something that roughens by removing portions of the surface; to grate harshly over; to abrade; to make even, or bring to a required condition or form, by moving the sharp edge of an instrument breadthwise over the surface with pressure, cutting away excesses and superfluous parts; to make smooth or clean; as, to scrape a bone with a knife; to scrape a metal plate to an even surface.
(v. t.) To remove by rubbing or scraping (in the sense above).
(v. t.) To collect by, or as by, a process of scraping; to gather in small portions by laborious effort; hence, to acquire avariciously and save penuriously; -- often followed by together or up; as, to scrape money together.
(v. t.) To express disapprobation of, as a play, or to silence, as a speaker, by drawing the feet back and forth upon the floor; -- usually with down.
(v. i.) To rub over the surface of anything with something which roughens or removes it, or which smooths or cleans it; to rub harshly and noisily along.
(v. i.) To occupy one's self with getting laboriously; as, he scraped and saved until he became rich.
(v. i.) To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or like instrument.
(v. i.) To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.
(n.) The act of scraping; also, the effect of scraping, as a scratch, or a harsh sound; as, a noisy scrape on the floor; a scrape of a pen.
(n.) A drawing back of the right foot when bowing; also, a bow made with that accompaniment.
(n.) A disagreeable and embarrassing predicament out of which one can not get without undergoing, as it were, a painful rubbing or scraping; a perplexity; a difficulty.
Typist: Margery
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Rub or abrade (with something edged).[2]. Gather, collect.
n. Difficulty, perplexity, distress, embarrassment, hot water.
Typed by Claus
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Grate, abrade, confricate, rasp, scratch, mark, groove
ANT:Lubricate, polish, levigate, dig, indent, wound
Edited by Davy
Definition
v.t. to make a harsh or grating noise on: to rub with something sharp: to remove by drawing a sharp edge over: to collect by laborious effort: to save penuriously: to erase.—v.i. to grub in the ground: to rub lightly: to draw back the foot in making obeisance: to play on a stringed instrument.—n. a perplexing situation: difficulty: a shave.—adj. Scrape′-good miserly stingy.—ns. Scrape′-penn′y a miser; Scrap′er an instrument used for scraping esp. the soles of shoes outside the door of a house: a hoe: a tool used by engravers and others: a fiddler; Scrap′ing that which is scraped off as the scrapings of the street: shavings hoardings; Scrap′ing-plane a plane used by workers in metal and wood.—Scrape acquaintance with to get on terms of acquaintance.
Typist: Mason
Examples
- Why should a man scrape himself to that extent, before he could consider himself full dressed? Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- He was going out of the way, on what he had been able to scrape up, and a trifle from me. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Scrape up a few stray locks of furze, and make a blaze, so that we can see who the man is, said Fairway. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- He's always in the same scrape. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- So, have good courage, friend George; this isn't the first ugly scrape that I've been in with thy people, said Phineas, as he closed the door. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Now, Dodo, do listen to what James says, said Celia, else you will be getting into a scrape. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- What's a scratch here and a scrape there, a poke in this place and a dig in the other, to them. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- It isn't a mere pleasure trip to me, girls, she said impressively, as she scraped her best palette. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer passengers than usual. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- Its main features are described as follows: The types, being rubbed or scraped narrower toward the foot, were to be fixed radially upon a cylinder. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- I've raked, and scraped, and borrowed, and all but begged,--and the price of these two was needed to make up the balance, and I had to give them up. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- In short, I do not believe there was a single girl of that description within two miles of us, with whom he had not scraped a kind of acquaintance. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Almost daily he whetted his keen knife and scraped and whittled at his young beard to eradicate this degrading emblem of apehood. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- So, though we had escaped a sunken rock, which we scraped upon in the passage, I thought this escape of rather more importance to me. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- The exultation and joy of the Pickwickians knew no bounds, when their patience and assiduity, their washing and scraping, were crowned with success. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Again, a minute bit of bark has been upturned by the scraping hand, and the direction of the break indicates the direction of the passage. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- Scraping up a quantity of sand into a little heap, he grasps it with three of the legs on one side and hurries away with it to some little distance. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- His right leg was dragging, the side of the shoe scraping on the road as they walked him. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- But I say,' resumed Lowten, scraping the back of the pen preparatory to making a fresh split, 'what a soft chap that other is! Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- John Bull was the appropriate name of the man who first patented a scraping machine in England, about 1780, and Joseph Weeks the next one, some years later. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- It was more likely that Madame Fosco would hear the scraping of my pen than that I should hear the rustling of her dress. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- You've got me out of a score of scrapes. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- If he had held his tongue he would have kept out of scrapes that he got into. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Them as sells heart's love and heart's blood, to get out thar scrapes, de Lord'll be up to 'em! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- You must have a prime minister, or you will get yourself into a series of scrapes. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- I was always first in the most galliantest scrapes in my younger days! Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I'll be as prim as I can and not get into any scrapes, if I can help it. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Really, Dodo, can't you hear how he scrapes his spoon? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Typist: Perry