ˈscratch-back
[f. scratch v. + back n.1]
1. An instrument for scratching the back to allay itching, usually in the form of a small hand of ivory or metal fixed to a long handle; a back-scratcher.
| 1842 Ainsworth's Mag. I. 20 What is it but..a fan, lazy⁓tongs, parasol, or scratchback? 1864 Chambers' Bk. of Days II. 238/1 [Description]. 1880 Goldw. Smith Cowper vii. 107 It is almost as easy to get a personal memento of Priam or Nimrod as it is to get..a spinning wheel, a tinder box, or a scratch-back. |
2. A toy formed on the principle of a rattle, producing a sound of tearing cloth when rubbed upon a person's back.
| 1858 Lytton What will He do i. i, But to pay such a price for a scratch-back!—Prodigal! 1865 Knight Passages Work. Life III. xii. 263 Greenwich Fair too has died out—its bonnettings and its scratch-backs. |