▪ I. scrape, n.1
(skreɪp)
[f. scrape v.]
I. Means, act, or result of scraping.
1. An instrument for scraping, a scraper. † a. A scraping tool held in the hand (obs.). b. Eastern U.S. ‘A small dredge’ (Funk's Stand. Dict.).
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 607 Or brasen scrapis out of euery dalke Hem scrape [orig. uncinis æreis tollendi sunt vermes ex ficu]. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xx. (Roxb.) 247/1 The Fourth is an Iron Scrape..set in a wooden handle, it is for the skullion to scrape and clense the furnice hole. |
2. An act of scraping. a. gen.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 324/2 A Scrape (MS. Addit. to Scrappe) as a hen dose; ruspare. 1553 R. Ascham Disc. Germ. 27 b, And how soone emig [read einig] may be turned into ewig, not with scrape of knife, but with the least dash of a pen, so that it shall neuer be perceiued, a man that will proue, may easely see. 1611 Cotgr. Gratture, a scratch, a scrape. |
b. scrape of a pen (Sc.): a hasty scribble, a small scrap of writing. Cf. scribe n., scrip n.
| 1690 Earl of Melfort in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. IV. 198 And in all this time we have not one scrape of a pen to free us from all these pains we suffer. 1814 Scott Wav. xlii, It..wad cost but the scrape of the pen to make it out. 1830 Galt Lawrie T. ix. viii, Just give me a scrape of a pen to him to transfer the amount to your credit. |
c. An awkward bow or salutation in which the foot is drawn backwards on the ground. Often coupled with bow or leg.
| 1628 Earle Microcosm., Scholler (Arb.) 41 But his scrape is homely, and his nod worse. 1660 Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 366 That they might make long legs and scrapes to them. 1721 Amherst Terræ-Filius No. 39 (1726) II. 50 A formal fellow..going to see an acquaintance of his..made a thousand scrapes and cringes. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack vi, I..made him abundance of bows and scrapes. 1787 J. P. Andrews Anecd. (1790) 146 He drew from his purse a guinea, and with a scrape, made an uncouth offer of it. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy i, To every one of these assurances..Andy made a bow and a scrape. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xv, Uncle Reuben made his very best scrape and then walked up to the table. |
d. A drawing of the bow over the violin.
| c 1807 Jane Austen Watsons in Minor Wks. (1954) 327 No sound of a Ball but the first Scrape of one violin. 1831 Coleridge Table-t. 7 July, He can actually sell the tones of his fiddle at so much a scrape. 1847 Disraeli Tancred iv. xi, Baroni appeared..with his violin. He gave a scrape or two, and the audience became orderly. |
e. jocular. A shave.
| 1859 Hotten's Slang Dict., Scrape, low wit for a shave. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie iv, I's jist gang ower to the barber's an' get a scrape. |
f. Fencing. (See quots.)
| 1889 Pollock, etc. Fencing (Badm. Libr.) 52 The scrape.—If slang were allowed, this ought to be called the ‘scrooge’; but there is no English word which precisely reproduces the French froissé. It is delivered in tierce when the adversary has his point too low, or his arm stretched out. Ibid., Giving his sword a scrape which ought to unnerve his hand for the moment. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 385/1 (Fencing), The scrape (this is the nearest English word for the French froissé) is made only in the high lines and mostly in the upper line (tierce). |
g. A sound of scraping.
| 1886 Hall Caine Son of Hagar ii. xiv, The harsh scrape of Natt's clogs was on the gravel. |
h. A dilatation of the cervix and curettage of the womb; spec. an induced abortion. slang.
| 1968 J. Hudson Case of Need iii. i. 172 The word got around..that she got a bad scrape. 1972 Rochdale's Alternative Paper No. 6. 10/2 The most common method [of abortion] in Britain for pregnancies of less than three months is D. & C. (better known to most women as a scrape). 1980 M. Drabble Middle Ground 62 She was having a D and C, a routine scrape. |
3. One who ‘scrapes’ or uses excessive economy, a miser. Obs. exc. dial. (see E.D.D.).
| 1727 Bailey vol. II, A Scrape, as meer Scrape, a saving industrious Person. |
4. a. A place scraped bare on a hillside. dial.
| 1781 Beckford Th. upon Hunting (1802) 258, I have known them lie in sheep's scrapes, on the sides of hills, and in small bushes. 1848 Barnes Poems Rural Life (ed. 2) Gloss., Scrape, a sheep-scrape; a bare place, where the turf has been scraped off by sheep's feet on a steep down-side. 1894 Patterson Newfdld. Words in Trans. Amer. Folk-Lore Soc. (E.D.D.), Scrape, a rough road down the face of a bank or steep hill, used specially in regard to such as are formed by sliding or hauling logs down. |
b. A place where the soil has been scraped up.
| 1862 Athenæum 27 Sept. 391 The deer which..were addicted, at certain seasons, to dig up the land with their fore feet, in holes to the depth of..half a yard, contributed a new word to our language. These were called ‘scrapes’. 1901 Scotsman 9 Apr. 7/4 Rabbit holes and scrapes at once appeared in shoals to the terror of the old golfers. |
c. Ornith. A shallow pit in the ground excavated by a bird, usu. during a courtship display; also, the action of making such a pit.
| 1926 Ibis II. 7 All the scrapes noted were within about fifty or sixty yards from a nest. 1940 H. F. Witherby et al. Handbk. Brit. Birds IV. 385 In more advanced scrapes female with back to male will peck in bottom of scrape. 1942 E. A. Armstrong Bird Display ii. 27 An unmated female red-necked phalarope makes scrapes in the herbage, and from the first day of finding a mate this ‘ceremony’ often follows coition... Before laying, the female visits the various scrapes and lays an egg in one of them. 1961 [see scrape ceremony s.v. scrape v. 10 b]. 1967 B. Campbell J. Hanzák's Pictorial Encycl. of Birds 254/2 The nest is a shallow scrape lined with small stones or shells. |
5. A layer (of butter) scraped thin; chiefly in bread and scrape (colloq.).
| 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre vii, A double ration of bread..with the delicious addition of a thin scrape of butter. 1861 London Rev. 16 Feb. 170 Cutting the children's bread and scrape! 1873 R. Broughton Nancy xlvii, Some people have their happiness thinly spread over their whole lives, like bread and scrape! |
6. (See quot. 1879.)
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 343 It [turpentine] is occasionally..scraped off, and barreled by itself. It is, therefore, known in market as ‘scrape’. 1879 F. H. Butler in Encycl. Brit. IX. 711/1 The concreted turpentine obtained in the United States by making incisions in the trunk of a species of pine, Pinnus australis,..is commercially known as ‘scrape’. 1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 517 The yield of the ‘scrapes’..is estimated..at from 60 to 70 barrels of 280 pounds [of turpentine] each. |
7. On a woodwind instrument, the part of the cane that is scraped to a narrow edge in the production of a reed. Also, the style of this scraping.
| 1954 Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) VI. 161/2 According to the quality of the cane from which it is made, and the character of its ‘scrape’, a reed [of an oboe] may be responsive or unyielding. 1961 Sprenkle & Ledet Art of Oboe Playing 95/2 The French scrape has a rather long tip. 1980 Early Music July 363/2 There are 3 basic scrapes..of which no. 1 is the most common. |
II. 8. An embarrassing or awkward predicament or situation, usually one into which a person is brought by his own imprudence and thoughtlessness.
[Prob. from the notion of being ‘scraped’ in going through a narrow passage: see scrape v. 4 c, and the later sense 9.]
| 1709 Steele & Swift Tatler No. 71 ¶8 A Youngster in a Scrape, is a Word out of Date. 1714 Mrs. Manley Adv. Rivella 89 Cleander told Rivella what a Scrape they were brought into. 1740 tr. De Mouhy's Fort. Country-Maid (1741) I. 273, I congratulated myself on my Dexterity in getting out of the Scrape. 1755 Johnson, Scrape, difficulty; perplexity; distress. This is a low word. 1771 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 11, I was generally the leader of the boys and sometimes led them into scrapes. 1818 Byron Juan i. xx, And let few opportunities escape Of getting her liege lord into a scrape. 1845 Disraeli Sybil ii. vii, Every scrape of the government was a step in the ladder to the great boroughmonger. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. v, Here one has only just to take care of oneself, and keep out of scrapes. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset xlvi, If you don't take care, young man,..you will find yourself in a scrape with your Madalina. 1873 Black Pr. Thule iv, If anyone was in a scrape about money. |
Add: [II.] [8.] b. U.S. colloq. A hand-to-hand fight, a skirmish; a brawl. Now rare.
| 1812 Massachusetts Spy 19 Aug. 3/1 A scouting party of about 100 men went down towards Malden; when they arrived near the river Canau, they got into a scrape with about the same number of Indians. 1839 W. McNally Evils & Abuses Naval & Merchant Service 66 American and French seamen have never met on shore..without a row and fight... Every American officer and seaman..deplored the fatal termination of one of those scrapes, in which a young French lieutenant was killed. 1919 Mencken Amer. Lang. 81 Scrape (for fight or difficulty). [Note] Of late the word has lost its final e and shortened its vowel, becoming scrap. 1954 L. Armstrong Satchmo i. 8 There was a great big shooting scrape in the Alley. |
▪ II. scrape, n.2 dial.
(skreɪp)
[Of obscure origin; the ON. skreppa mousetrap has been compared, but connexion is very doubtful.]
A trap for catching birds; = shrape n.
| 1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes 124 Next you shall enquire if there be in euery parish..a crow net,..and it is not enough to haue one, but it must be vsed, & scrapes made in the winter to that purpose. 1668 Worlidge Dict. Rust., A Shrape, or Scrape, a place baited with Chaff or Corn to entice Birds. 1706 E. Baynard Cold Baths II. 425 Catch'd like Sparrows in a Scrape of Chaff. 1877 E. Leigh Cheshire Gloss. 177 Scrape, seeds or corn laid on the snow, in order to get a raking shot at birds. |
▪ III. scrape, v.
(skreɪp)
Pa. tense and pple. scraped (skreɪpt). Also 6 Sc. scraip(e, skraip (pr. pple. screpand, screpping, 7 rarely pa. pple. scrapen.
[ME. scrape (also shrape), perh. (see scr- 1) directly repr. OE. scrapian (see quot. under sense 4); perh. a. the corresponding ON. skrapa to scrape, erase, in Icel. to clatter (Sw. skrapa, Da. skrabe to scrape) = MDu., Du. schrapen:—OTeut. type *skrapōjan, f. root *skrap-, ablaut-var. of *skrep- in OE. screpan (str.; ME. screpe wk.) to scrape.
Other cognates are Du., LG. schrappen to scrape (whence G. schrappen, schrapfen), MHG. schrepfen (mod.G. schröpfen) to scarify; the Du. scrabben scrab v. is prob. more remotely connected.
The Teut. root *skrep-: skrap- may be a metathetic form of *skerp-: skarp- (see sharp a.); cf. OE. scearpian to scarify.]
1. a. trans. To remove (an outer layer or something excrescent or adhering) by drawing across the surface the edge of some instrument held nearly perpendicularly. Chiefly with advs., off, away, out, or const. from, off, out of.
| 1382 Wyclif Job ii. 8 The whiche with a sherd scrapide [1388 schauyde] awei the quyture, sittende in the dunghil. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 213 Þat men of þat lond ete þe flesche of her owne children, and meny scrapede of þe pouder of an hil and ete it as it were mele. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 608 Or brasen scrapis out of euery dalke Hem scrape. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 450/2 Scrapyn, or schavyn a-wey, abrado. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 b, He scraped y⊇ stynkyng fylth & corrupcyon of her deed body. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xiv. 43 After y{supt} the stones are broken out, & the playster scraped of [etc.]. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 16 Of this Robert reporteth Reynulph that he scraped from one Beame of his Church in Couentrie fiue hundreth marke, to fill the hande of king William. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 205 He..doth enlarge his Rising, with the blood Of faire King Richard, scrap'd from Pomfret stones, Deriues from heauen, his Quarrell, and his Cause. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 550 With kniues in their hands, to scrape from their legs the bloud-leeches. 1686 N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. (ed. 3) v. 94 After your Groom has..scrapt off all the Sweat from your Horses. 1729 Swift Direct. Serv. i. Wks. 1751 XIV. 23 When you cut Bread for a Toast,..lay it on the Coals;..and, if you find it toasted quite through, scrape off the burnt Side, and serve it up. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 189 But let me scrape the dirt away That hangs upon your face. 1786 Chelsum Hist. Engrav. Mezzotinto 6 These parts are scraped away in a greater or less degree, as the lights are intended to be stronger or weaker. 1845 Budd Dis. Liver 191 Covered by a soft pulpy matter, which may be readily scraped away. 1855 Tennyson Brook 193, I scraped the lichen from it [the tombstone]. 1877 R. H. Hutton Ess. (ed. 2) I. 37 Like dry colours scraped off a picture. |
† b. spec. To erase (writing, etc.) with a knife. Chiefly with advs. out, away, off, and const. out of.
The earliest recorded use; the older screpe v. occurs in the same sense. Sometimes (as in quot. 1563–83) the sense appears to be: To delete by crossing through with a pen.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 7044 And commaunded alle yn rape A-wey þat wrytyng for to skrape. ? 1384 Chaucer Wordes unto Adam 6 So ofte a daye I mot thy werk renewe, Hit to correcte and eek to rubbe and scrape, And al is through thy negligence and rape. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. xxi. (1869) 83 Which thing if it so were, riht so alle hise ordenaunces shulden be put out of the book, and defaced and scraped. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) 190, I will skrape this awaie anon, Their as a virgine is wrytten on, I will wryte, a good woman. 1530 Palsgr. 707/1 Scrape out this lyne, it is falsely written. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 421/1 A..learned priest, that through out al the ghospels scraped out diabolus and wrote Iesus Christus. 1563–83 Foxe A. & M. 1591/2 Then he tooke his penne & said that he would scrape it out for my pleasure. 1577 Holinshed Chron. II. 1189/1 Bookes..beautified with Images, the heads wherof had bin scraped off. 1600 J. Hamilton Facile Traictise 152 Screpping out the wordis (ful of grace) and putting in..(frelie beloouit). Ibid. 276 Screpand out thir wordis, Except [etc.]. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 9 Thou conclud'st like the Sanctimonious Pirat, that went to sea with the ten Commandements, but scrap'd one out of the Table. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 19/2 One end was sharpe to make the letters, the other end broad with an edge, to scrape what was amise, out againe. |
| transf. and fig. c 1350 Will. Palerne 448 Faire so his figure is festened in mi ȝout [read þout], þat wiþ no coyntise ne craft ne can y it out scrape. 1387 Trevisa tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 431 Haue mynde of Moyses, hym was levere be scraped out of þe book of lyf. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 203 His vnhappy predestinate chaunce coulde not by any pollicy be put by, nor by any instrument scraped away. c 1580 Sidney Ps. ix. xii, The poore in sprite Shall not be scrapt, from out of heav'nly score. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 231 Yes, by all meanes: if it be but to scrape the figures out of your husbands braines. |
2. a. To deprive of an outer layer or to free from excrescent or adhering matter by drawing the edge of some instrument over the surface; to abrade, clean, or render smooth, or to obtain scrapings from, by this process.
| c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 18 Take þe Mawes of Turbut, Haddok, or Codelyng, & pyke hem clene, & skrape hem, & Wasshem clene. 1530 Palsgr. 707/1, I scrape a parchement skynne to make it the better to write on. Ibid., Scrape the knedynge troughe or you put in the meale. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xiv. 41 Then shall he command..the house to be scraped within rounde aboute. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 43 And with a piece of glasse he skrapeth his fingers. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 2 Where's Potpan, that he helpes not to take away? He shift a Trencher? he scrape a Trencher? 1631 Gouge God's Arrows i. §25 Onicha, a kind of spice very cleare, which being scraped giveth an extraordinary sweet savour. 1645 Milton Colast. 19 It may bee his trenchers were not scrap't. 1662 W. Faithorne Art Graving 48 After you have graved part of your work, it will be necessary to scrape it with a sharp edge of another Graver. 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Joinery 70 These hard woods are..more properly said to be Scraped than Plained. 1725 Bradley's Family Dict. s.v. Horse-radish, The Root..is scraped and used with Vinegar for Sauce to roast Beef, Mutton, &c. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1783 (1811) IV. 205 He..scraped the joints of his fingers with a pen-knife, till they were quite red and raw. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xli, The gravel walk and terrace had been scraped quite clean. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxii. 349 Ice at 32° may..be scraped with a knife with even greater facility than some kinds of chalk. 1880 Standard 12 Apr. 2/8 He at once seized him and discovered that he had a gold band bracelet,..worth about 5l... It had evidently been tested, for it was ‘scraped’ in more than one place. 1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Oct. 2/2 An ironclad's..bottom is always foul when she cannot be periodically docked and scraped. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., Scraping, cleaning the spars of a ship and parts of the hull with a small piece of sharp iron, steel, or glass. |
b. To remove the dirt from the soles of (one's boots or shoes) by drawing them over a door-scraper.
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xliii, I'd scrape my shoes on the scraper of the door. |
c. Used jocularly for: To shave.
| 1773 Fergusson Poems (1807) 280 Their barber bauld his whittle crooks And scrapes them for the races. |
d. To inscribe or portray on stone by scraping away the surface.
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 728/2 But if he feele it written there in dede as he saith he doth, then he feleth it scribled and scraped in his hert by the croked clouen clawes of the deuill. 1581 L. Aldersey in Hakluyt's Voy. (1589) 182 The outside of the [holy] sepulchre is very foule, by meanes that euery man scrapes his name and marke vpon it. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xliv, The family arms were just new scraped in stone. |
e. To produce (a mezzotint engraving) by scraping the prepared copper plate. Also absol.
| 1747 Sculptura-Hist.-Techn. 225 Mezzotinto, called Scraping or Burnishing on Copper. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 239 Several prints were made from his works, and several plates he etched and scraped himself. 1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 Feb. 3/1 The painter has scraped a mezzotint from his picture. |
f. To clean or empty out by scraping.
| 1894 ‘R. Andom’ We Three & Troddles xxi. 198 When you have done with that jam you might let me have the pot to scrape out. 1919 E. Shackleton South xii. 237 As the cook and his ‘mate’ had the privilege of scraping out the saucepans, there was some anxiety to secure the job. 1925 Morris Owner's Man. 14 Thoroughly scrape out and oil cams until they work quite freely. |
g. To draw (hair) tightly back from the forehead. Cf. scraped ppl. a. 2 b.
| 1926 ‘O. Douglas’ Proper Place xxxi. 280, I couldn't have believed she had such pretty, soft hair for she wore it scraped back. |
† 3. a. Of a beast or bird: To remove (soil, etc.) by scratching with the feet or claws; to make (a hole) by scratching. Also absol. or intr., to scratch in the ground. Obs.
| c 1430 Sir Tryam. 392 (Percy Soc.) Hys gode hownde..scraped on hym bothe ryne and mosse, And fro hym nevyr wolde gone! c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 308 Sho [a wolf] began to skrape & grafe abowte þe rowte with hur naylis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 450/2 Scrapyn, as hennys, ruspor. 1530 Palsgr. 707/1 Yonder dogge scrapeth to make a hole to hyde his dyner in. 1538 Elyot Dict., Scalpturio, to scrape as a Cocke dothe, or other fowles. ? a 1598 D. Ferguson's Sc. Prov. No. 327 (1785) 13 He is a proud tod that will not scrape his ain hole. |
| fig. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ i. v. §5 Those Arabick traditions which that author scrapes as much for, as æsops Cock did on the Dunghill. Ibid. iii. ii. §4 Scraping and searching into the natures of things. |
b. trans. with adv. or phrase. † to scrape out, scrape forth: to dig out with the nails or claws. Also fig.
| 1530 Palsgr. 707/1 She loved nat her housbonde whyle he lyved, and now she wolde be gladde to scrape hym out of the yerthe with her nayles. 1549 Compl. Scot. To Rdr. 12 For ane hen that seikis hyr meyt in the mydding, may scraipe sa lang amang the fyltht, quhil sche scraip furtht sum ald knyfe that hes been tynt. 1845 Gosse Ocean iv. (1849) 205 The females [turtles].. lay their eggs in holes [in the sand] which they scoop out with their fin-like feet. The work being accomplished, the sand is again scraped back over the eggs, and the surface made smooth as before. |
† 4. a. To scratch with the finger-nails or claws; also intr. Also, to caress (a dog, etc.) by scratching or clawing. Obs.
| c 1000 Sign Language §67 in Techmers Zeitschr. II. (1885), Ᵹif þu æᵹera beþurfe, þonne scrapa þu mid þinum fingre up on þinne wynstran þuman. a 1400–1450 Bk. Curtasye 87 in Babees Bk., Yf þy nown dogge þou scrape or clawe, Þat is holden a vyse emong men knawe. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 450/2 Scrapyn, a(s) bestys (MS. S. schrapen), scalpo. 1577 Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 97 Thou likst ill men, ill men thee laude. So Mules of mules are scrapt and clawd. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 163 The little Dog, seeing his true maister returned home, ranne barking to the doore,..fawning and scraping his Lord and maister also. |
† b. Phr. go scrape! app. a form of contemptuous dismissal. Obs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Envoyer au grat, to send a grazing; a Maister to put away his man; (and, perhaps from this phrase came our contemptuous, Goe scrape). |
† c. To scratch, lacerate (with thorns). Obs.
| c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 113 The pryst demyd them devylles both, wyth them he wolde not mett; He sparyd nother hylle, nor holte, busche, gryne, nor grett; Lord! he was fowle scrapyd! |
† d. To make a scratching noise with the fingernails on (a door), by way of an unobtrusive signal. In later use intr. with const. at. Obs.
Cf. scratch v. 7.
| c 1400 Beryn 481 Ȝit trowid he no gyle, but went[e] nere to, And scrapid the dorr welplich, & wynyd with his mowith. 1718 Free-thinker No. 24. 173, I hope we shall never..condescend to Scrape, instead of Knocking, at a Great Man's Door. 1829 Lytton Devereux iv. vi, We came to the door of a second chamber, at which Fleuri scraped gently. |
5. a. (fig. of sense 3.) ‘To gather by great efforts, or penurious or trifling diligence’ (J.); to amass, get possession of, collect, or bring together with difficulty. Now only with together or up.
| [1540 Palsgr. Acolastus ii. i. H ij b, It shuld not greue me..to scrape my lyuyng out of the harde stone walles, with my nayles.] 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Ephes. Prol., Whan was there more haftyng and craftyng to scrape money together..than now. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Northumbld. xvi, Who in my cause al that he could ey skrapte. 1588 Munday's Banq. Daintie Conceits, ‘The Statelie pine’ v, The wealthy chuffe, that..scrapes and scratches all the mucke he may. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 27 Thereafter all that mucky pelfe he tooke,..The which her sire had scrap't by hooke and crooke. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 178 Busie..in scraping up money for such idle expences. 1644 Milton Educ. 2 We do amisse to spend seven or eight yeers meerly in scraping together so much miserable Latin, and Greek. 1654 Jer. Taylor Real Pres. 142 But to make up this also he does corradere scrape together some things extrinsecal to the words of this authoritie. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 278 The greatest, but not best part of men..scrape up Wealth by Hooke, or by Crooke. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. x. i. 24 The Prelaticall party complained, that to swell a number, the non-conformists did not chuse, but scrape Subscribers. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 299 ¶2 By the Age of Five and twenty I had scraped together Four thousand two hundred Pounds Five Shillings, and a few odd Pence. 1805 H. K. White Let. Apr. Life & Rem. (1850) 330 The poor Tallow-chandler, who..at length scraped money enough to retire. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 683 The fervent dean scraped together all his properties..to endow it [a College]. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. x. 272 The first money he was able to scrape together by strict frugality. 1890 ‘L. Falconer’ Mlle. Ixe iii. 80 They really must scrape some men together to balance all these heavy girls. |
b. to scrape (an) acquaintance: to get on terms of acquaintance with by careful effort and insinuation; rarely with up. So † to scrape kindred.
‘A low phrase. To curry favour, or insinuate into one's familiarity’ (J.). Cf. † to scratch acquaintance, scratch v. 1 e.
| 1600 Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood Epigr. xxxi, One newlie practiz'd in Astronomie..Would scrape (forsooth) acquaintance of the skie, And by his arte, goe knocke at heauen dore. 1602 How a Man may Chuse gd. Wife F 1 b, O this acquaintance was well scrapte of me. 1641 C. Burges Serm. 5 Nov. 58 Although God be gratiously indulgent, yet is he not inconsiderately prodigall of mercies to all that scrape acquaintance with him in their troubles. 1658 W. Burton Itin. Anton. 157 Affecting relation to Troy, and scraping kindred thence. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. lx. 402 Mrs. Harris scraped acquaintance with Mrs. Thomas. 1825 Mrs. Sherwood Yng. Forester (Houlston Tr.) I. 5 He contrived to scrape acquaintance with certain smugglers. 1844 Alb. Smith Adv. Mr. Ledbury lix, Two or three of the immates..with whom Jack had already scraped up an acquaintance. 1880 L. Oliphant Land of Gilead i. 8 After establishing ourselves..we went out to look about us, and scrape acquaintance with the people. 1904 F. Whishaw Lovers at Fault v. 43 Her two dearest friends had contrived to scrape acquaintance without introduction. |
c. absol. and intr. To hoard up penuriously; to save or economize; to gather together money, etc. with labour and difficulty. Now chiefly dial.
| 1552 Latimer Serm., St. Andr. Day (1562) 120 They intend to gette that money agayne which they haue layed out, and afterwarde to scrape for purchasyng. 1552 ― 1st Sund. Epiph. (1584) 302 b, Euery manne scrapeth for hymselfe. a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1594) 109 Zacheus, which before hee had seene Christ, knew nothing but to scrape; but as soone as he had heard Christ, all his minde was set vpon giuing. 1592 Nobody & Someb. D 3, Let them grieue That scrape for wealth, I will the poore relieue. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. lxv, She scraped and scraped at pleasure, till I was almost starved to death. 1835 Court Mag. VI. 74/2 How he got it [so much money], save by scrape—scraping, the Lord alone knows. 1881 Century Mag. Nov. 133 You do have a hard time, don't you?..to slave and tug and scrape to get a house over your head. |
d. In fig. phr. to scrape (the bottom of) the barrel (or bucket): to collect with difficulty something inferior; to obtain something (as by necessity) from a poor source. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1942 Time 12 Jan. 57/1 The medical profession..[is] closer to scraping the bottom of the bucket..than any other occupation, trade or profession. 1955 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 30 Oct. 1/1 It was built in the spring of 1864, when the Confederacy was scraping the bottom of its barrel of men and resources. 1957 Essays in Criticism VII. 342, I was scraping the barrel for evidence. 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze viii. 203 The insistence of the Americans that the Casablanca assault should be much the strongest..meant scraping the bottom of the barrel to find extra ships, craft and crews. 1970 Times 5 Nov. 14/4 Professor Barlow explains how necessary it is to ‘scrape the barrel’ for even the most minor scraps of information. 1981 Times 18 Aug. 1/3 We shall have to pay something. I hope to be able to scrape the barrel and come up with something. |
6. Used disparagingly for: To play (a fiddle); occas. to scrape catgut; to play (a tune, etc.) on the fiddle. Cf. F. râcler. Chiefly absol.
| 1599 [see catgut 1]. 1607 Dekker & Webster Westward Hoe! v. i, They are but rozining, sir, and theile scrape themselues into your company presently. Mono. Plague a their Cats guts and their scraping. 1623 Massinger Dk. of Milan ii. i, You shall scrape, and Ile sing, A scuruie Dittie to a scuruie tune. a 1672 Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 189 Like contry fidlers [to] scrape for our livings. 1764 Oxf. Sausage 37 Save where some Fiddler scrapes a drowsy Tune. 1779 V. Knox Ess. lxxi. (1782) I. 310 It is..necessary to do little else than scrape and pipe. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxvii, The musicians were still there..scraping and twanging away. 1842 Lever J. Hinton ix, While fiddles, French-horns, and dulcimers, scraped and blew their worst. 1848 Dickens Dombey lviii, He..was scraping consolation out of its deepest notes. |
7. a. To rub harshly on (a surface) in passing along or over it, so as to cause abrasion or produce a grating noise; to draw (something) roughly over a surface.
| 1731 Pope Ep. Burlington 152 The chiming Clocks to dinner call; A hundred footsteps scrape the marble Hall. 1857 O. W. Holmes Autocrat iii, Somebody happened to scrape the floor with his chair just then; which accidental sound..broke the charm. 1871 Darwin Descent of Man II. xiii. 61 Turkey-cocks scrape their wings against the ground, and some kinds of grouse thus produce a buzzing sound. 1897 Encycl. Sport. I. 473/1 (Golf) Sclaff, to scrape the surface of the ground with the sole of the club head before striking the ball. |
b. intr. To graze against or on.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 344 When the animal therefore is compelled to make a step forward, it scrapes on the back of the nails along the surface. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xlvi. (1856) 423 Fangs of broken ice, which scraped against the beach as the tides rose and fell. |
† c. transf. To pass very closely along. Obs.
| 1603 Knolles Hist. Turkes (1621) 750 Then scraping along the island Prochita.., he put into the bay of Puteoli. |
d. To draw one's feet noisily over the floor. Hence † trans. to insult by doing this in a public assembly (obs.). Also to scrape down: to silence (a speaker) by making a noise with the feet.
| 1561 [see scraping vbl. n. 1 b]. 1773 Jebb in Disney Mem. J.'s Wks. 1787 I. 57 The young men were offended at him [Wilgress] for his behaviour as proctor, and therefore scraped him. When the sermon was over, the vice-chancellor called to the proctors, to take the names of all the gentlemen in one of the galleries. 1785 [see scraping vbl. n. 1 b]. 1832 Tour through College 25 (Hall College Words), They not unfrequently rose to open outrage or some personal molestation, as..‘scraping him’. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii. IV. 749 Another [orator] was coughed and scraped down. |
8. a. intr. To make obeisance, to bow drawing the foot back, ‘to make an awkward bow’ (J.).
Often to bow and scrape, with contemptuous reference to over-ceremonious politeness or reverence.
| 1645 Gipps Serm. 12 Who will scrape to a keeper for a piece of Venison, who may have free accesse to the master of the game to aske and have? 1646 J. Whitaker Uzziah 24 Have you not known some in a low condition, to bow and scrape? 1761 Churchill Rosciad 396 By turns transform'd into all kinds of shapes, Constant to none, Foote laughs, cries, struts, and scrapes. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxviii, He ducked with his head and shoulders, scraped with his more advanced hoof, and withdrew to his own domains. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset xxxv. I. 301 Bowing and scraping and rubbing his hands together. |
† b. trans. to scrape a leg: to make a leg (see leg n. 4). Obs.
| 1602 [see leg n. 4]. 1672 H. More Brief Reply 328 Scraping many legs to him, and desiring him to tell his demands. Ibid., And scraping many Legs, asked a largess of the Knight. 1681 D'Urfey Progr. Honesty v. 5 Sure he has some suit to beg, That thus he sneaks and scrapes a Leg. |
9. a. intr. to scrape along: to manage or ‘get along’ with difficulty. to scrape through: to get through a trial, an examination, so as just to escape failure. Also with other advs. or advb. phrases in similar senses, as to scrape by, scrape home, scrape in, etc.
| 1884 W. Cudworth Yorksh. Dial. & Character Sk. 33 (E.D.D.) Boath him an' his father hed scraped along withaht wommanly help. 1905 H. A. Vachell The Hill iii. 51 We must mug up our ‘cons’ well enough to scrape along without ‘puns’ and extra school. 1907 E. Glyn Three Weeks i, He scraped through his ‘Smalls’ and his ‘Mods’. 1927 Observer 18 Sept. 17/3 Mr. Blythe, who at the last election scraped home in Monaghan. 1951 Sport 6–12 Apr. 17/2 The Airmen just scraped through with a 3–2 win. 1958 Times 16 Dec. 4/4 (heading) Chigwell scrape home. 1958 [see million 2 f]. 1966 Listener 1 Dec. 829/1 Osbert Lancaster..depends on words rather than drawing, understandably since his drawing..only just scrapes by. 1973 M. Woodhouse Blue Bone iv. 35 The family didn't get on with the Germans and they only just barely scraped by with the Communists. 1978 ‘M. M. Kaye’ Far Pavilions vii. 114 As long as he can shoot and ride, I suppose he'll scrape past. |
b. trans. (causatively.) to scrape (a person) through: barely to enable him to get through.
| 1897 Flandrau Harvard Episodes 243 A futile effort to scrape Billy through an examination. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 7 July 7/2 The..tests of fitness for promotion,..for which officers cram up a little theoretical knowledge, just sufficient to scrape them through. |
c. To acquire or obtain (something) with difficulty. colloq.
| 1963 Guardian 9 Aug. 7/1 He read English at Oxford. ‘But I only scraped a third.’ 1967 Listener 2 Mar. 283/1 The Congress Party, which has ruled the country since independence in 1947, has just managed to scrape a majority in the central parliament. 1980 Early Music Apr. 234/1 Nor does castrato appear in the index (though Farinelli scrapes a mention). |
10. Comb. a. in contemptuous designations of persons, as † scrape-all (see quot.); † scrape-good, a miser, also adj. miserly; scrape-gut, a fiddler; † scrape-pelf, -penny, -scall, a miser; † scrape-shoe, ? an obsequious person, a toady. b. scrape ceremony Ornith., a display by a bird, involving the excavation of a shallow pit in the ground and the pressing of the bird's breast into this, freq. performed during courtship; hence scrape-ceremonial a.; † scrape-pan, an instrument for scraping a salt-pan.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, *Scrape-all, a Money-Scrivener; also a miserable Wretch, or griping Fellow. |
| 1926 Huxley & Montague in Ibis II. 10 Nervous picking at grass..may be seen during incubation, *scrape-ceremonies and before coition. 1949 British Birds XLII. 8 Both sexes indulge in the ‘scrape’ ceremony and in many of the actions characteristic of nest-building. 1961 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles IX. 15 The main type of sexual behaviour preceding coition is the tail-display... At this stage the scrape-ceremony is very common, a typically male performance by which he lures the female to one scrape after another. |
| Ibid. X. 247 Dotterel and red-necked phalarope..share very similar *scrape-ceremonial and egg-laying behaviour. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Caqueduc, a niggard, micher, miser, *scrape-good. a 1693 Urquhart's Rabelais iii. iv, None will there be..a Scrape-good wretch or churlish hard hearted refuser. |
| 1837 Lockhart Scott I. v. 152, I greatly doubt, sir, you were born for nae better than a gangrel *scrape-gut. |
| 1746 T. Lowndes Brine Salt improved 10 And then instantly, with the common iron *scrape-pan, stir the Brine very briskly in every part of the pan for about a minute. |
| 1626 W. Fenner Hid. Manna (1652) 28 No covetous, nor drunkard, *scrape-pelfe, nor swearer,..partaketh of it with you. |
| 1584 Lodge Alarum agst. Vsurers 3 b, Assuring him y{supt} he is to think wel of his master *scrapepenie y⊇ vsurer. 1755 [see scraper 1]. |
| 1602 Withals Dict. 80/1 Regarding nothing but the gaine, a Scraper, or *scrape-scall. |
| 1607 Puritan i. iii. 12 Why, how now, we three? Puritanicall *Scrape-shoes, Flesh a good Fridayes! 1632 Massinger City Madam iv. i, Live scrape-shoo, and be thankfull. |