scrape

Definition

v. to remove something from a surface by pulling a hard tool or your nails across it. You can also use it to mean hitting against a hard surface and getting a small injury.

v. to drag a sharp or hard tool across a surface to remove material; also, to graze or abrade the skin through contact with a rough surface.

simple

“I had to scrape the ice off the windshield.”

contextual

“She used a knife to scrape the old paint from the wooden chair before refinishing it.”

complex

“Although he tried to scrape together enough money to fix the boat, the cost of the repairs proved too high after several seasons of saltwater damage.”

Transitive — typically takes a direct object.

From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian (“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic skrapōną, skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skrebʰ- (“to engrave”). Cognate with Dutch schrapen (“to scrape”), schrappen (“to strike through; to cancel; to scrap”), schrabben (“to scratch”), German schrappen (“to scrape”), Danish skrabe (“to scrape”), Icelandic skrapa (“to scrape”), Walloon screper (“to scrape”), Latin scribō (“dig with a pen, draw, write”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

scrape(B1)

NOUN

scraper(B2)

scraping(C1)