# scrap

Pronunciation: say "SKRAP" /skɹæp/

## Noun

1. A small piece or fragment; a detached, incomplete part of something larger.
   - Simple: A small piece of something that has been torn, cut or broken off.
   - _Only a scrap of the original map survives, showing part of the coastline._
   - _Investigators pieced the letter together from scraps found in the fireplace._
3. Discarded objects, especially metal ones, that can be taken apart to recover their materials; junk.
   - Simple: Old things, especially metal ones, that are thrown out so their materials can be used again.
   - _Prices for scrap have risen, so dealers are buying up old appliances again._
   - _Thieves stripped the copper pipes from the empty building to sell as scrap._
5. The smallest amount of something; the least bit, usually in negative statements.
   - Simple: The smallest bit of something, often used with not.
   - _There is not a scrap of evidence that the two men ever met._
   - _She doesn't care a scrap what the neighbors think of her garden._
6. Food left over from a meal, usually spoken of in the plural.
   - Simple: Bits of food that are left after a meal.
   - _Restaurant scraps are collected every night and turned into compost._
   - _Kitchen staff are told to bin every scrap separately for the compost collection._
7. A fight or scuffle, especially a short or minor one.
   - Simple: A short fight between people.
   - _A scrap broke out between rival fans outside the stadium._
   - _He came home with a black eye from some scrap at the bar._
11. A loose bit of deep-fried batter left in the fryer after fish is cooked, sometimes served with chips. *(UK)*
   - Simple: Pieces of fried batter that are left after cooking fish, sometimes sold with fries.
   - _The woman behind the counter of the chippy asked if I wanted scraps on my chips._
   - _By closing time the fryer had turned out a whole tray of scraps, which the owner bagged up for his regulars._
12. The crisp substance left over after animal fat has been dried out.
   - Simple: The crispy bits left after animal fat is cooked until it is dry.
   - _Rendered down, a pail of fat gives a crock of lard and a heap of crisp pork scrap._
   - _Some cooks crumble the salty scraps into cornbread._
13. Low-grade loose-leaf tobacco, such as the sweepings left from handling better grades.
   - Simple: Cheap loose tobacco of low quality, like bits swept up after better tobacco is handled.
   - _Makers of chewing tobacco bought scrap cheaply from the warehouses._
   - _Sweepings from the sorting floor were bagged and sold as scrap._
14. An offensive ethnic slur for a Hispanic criminal, especially a Mexican or someone affiliated with the Sureño gang.
   - Simple: A very rude and hurtful word for a Hispanic criminal, especially a Mexican or a Sureño gang member.

## Verb

2. To get rid of something that is no longer wanted; to discard.
   - Simple: To throw away or get rid of something.
   - _The new government promised to scrap the unpopular tax._
   - _The airline scrapped its rewards program and replaced it with a simpler one._
4. To halt work on a project or plan indefinitely.
   - Simple: To stop work on a project, with no idea when or if it will start again.
   - _The city scrapped the stadium project after its estimated cost doubled._
   - _Engineers were told to scrap work on the prototype and focus on the existing model._
8. To dispose of something at a scrapyard, or to break it up for scrap.
   - Simple: To send an old car, train or machine to a junkyard to be broken up.
   - _Dozens of aging trains were scrapped once the new fleet arrived._
   - _It would cost more to repair the old boiler than to scrap it._
9. To fight; to get into a scuffle with someone.
   - Simple: To fight with someone.
   - _Two men started scrapping outside the bar at closing time._
   - _The players scrap for every loose ball in the final minutes._
10. To work on or create scrapbooks.
   - Simple: To make scrapbooks, books of pasted-in photos and keepsakes.
   - _A dozen friends meet at the library every month to scrap and swap supplies._
   - _She has been scrapping since her first child was born, and the albums now fill a shelf._

## Noun

15. A snare for catching birds. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A trap made to catch birds.
   - _He baited the scrap with seed and waited for the finches to come down._
   - _The gamekeeper pulled up every scrap the poachers had set along the edge of the wood._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–6, 8, 10–15** — From Middle English scrappe, from Old Norse skrap, from skrapa ("to scrape, scratch"), from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną ("to scrape, scratch"), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb- ("to engrave"). Compare Swedish skräp ("garbage").
**Meanings 7, 9** — Perhaps from the obsolete colloquial meaning "sinister plot, scheme, villainy", or a dialectal variant of scrape.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/scrap (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).