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Scrape   /skreɪp/   Listen
verb
Scrape  v. t.  (past & past part. scraped; pres. part. scraping)  
1.
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.
2.
To remove by rubbing or scraping (in the sense above). "I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock."
3.
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. "The prelatical party complained that, to swell a number the nonconformists did not choose, but scrape, subscribers."
4.
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.
To scrape acquaintance, to seek acquaintance otherwise than by an introduction. "He tried to scrape acquaintance with her, but failed ignominiously."


Scrape  v. i.  
1.
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.
2.
To occupy one's self with getting laboriously; as, he scraped and saved until he became rich. "(Spend) their scraping fathers' gold."
3.
To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or like instrument.
4.
To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.


noun
Scrape  n.  
1.
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.
2.
A drawing back of the right foot when bowing; also, a bow made with that accompaniment.
3.
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. "The too eager pursuit of this his old enemy through thick and thin has led him into many of these scrapes."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Scrape" Quotes from Famous Books



... parsel. pasternak of rasenns [2]. scrape hem waisthe hem clene. take rapes & caboches ypared and icorne [3]. take an erthen panne with clene water & set it on the fire. cast all ise erinne. whan ey buth boiled cast erto peeres & parboile hem wel. take ise thynges up & lat it kele ...
— The Forme of Cury • Samuel Pegge
... the river-bank at Saint-Cloud, while she came in every day to the Champs Elysees, sounding her rattle and crying: "Ladies' pleasures, come buy, come buy!" And with all this toil the old couple could not scrape enough together to end their ...
— The Gods are Athirst • Anatole France
... standing out in the passage. The whole 36th. regiment could scarcely have been more astounding to me. As to staying to see her in that room, with the prospect of the military descent in combination, I couldn't have done it for the world! so I made Henrietta, who had drawn me into the scrape, take her up-stairs, and followed myself in a minute or two—and the corollary of this interesting history is, that being able to talk at all after all that 'fuss,' and after walking 'up-stairs and down-stairs' like the ancestor of your spider, ...
— The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 • Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett
... "Jack Straw" was a kind of masque, which was very much disliked by the aristocratic and elder part of the community, hence the amount of the fine imposed. The Society of Gray's Inn, however, in 1527, got into a worse scrape than permitting Jack Straw and his adherents, for they acted a play (the first on record at the Inns of Court) during this Christmas, the effect whereof was, that Lord Governance was ruled by Dissipation and Negligence, by whose evil order Lady Public Weal was ...
— Christmas: Its Origin and Associations - Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries • William Francis Dawson
... since. And the funniest part of it is I'm certain sure he never had his nails done in his life before then—they was certainly in a untidy state the first time he came. And there's another peculiar thing about him. He always makes me scrape away down under his nails, right to the quick. Sometimes they bleed and it must ...
— From Place to Place • Irvin S. Cobb


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