scratching

Pluralscratchings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of scratch.

   She was scratching a design into the wet clay.

   Constant scratching left red marks on his arm.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb runs through this form, whether relieving an itch, marking a surface, or striking a line through text. As a participle it builds progressives (she was scratching); as a gerund it acts like a noun yet keeps verb habits. It takes a direct object (scratching a design) and an adverb, where the act or sound takes adjectives and a plural.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act or noise of dragging something rough or sharp across a surface.

   A constant scratching told them a branch was rubbing the roof.

   The only sound in the quiet room was the scratching of his pen.

   Similarscraping, rasping

   Note

   The noun works both as a mass noun and as a count noun, and the choice changes what the reader hears. Uncountable, it is one continuous sound, often paired with another: H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898) has "the snuffing and scratching of a dog." Countable, it splits the noise into separate bouts, so further scratchings at the door means the dog tried again. Reach for the plural when a sound comes and goes.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A hip hop technique in which a DJ moves a vinyl record back and forth under the needle to produce rhythmic, percussive sounds.

   Her set featured heavy scratching over a slow funk loop.

   Scratching became a signature element of early hip hop performances.

   Note

   In full, record scratching, and a core craft of turntablism. The DJ's hand works the record against the stylus, advancing and reversing the groove, so the turntable becomes a percussion instrument rather than a playback device. It is mostly used as a mass noun for the technique, as in heavy scratching over a loop.

4. 4
   nounusually plural

   A crisp, savory snack made from fried or roasted pork rind, popular as a bar snack in Britain.

   The pub served free scratchings with every pint on Fridays.

   He offered me a scratching from his packet, still warm and crisp.

   Note

   Usually bought by the packet and spoken of in the plural, but one piece is a scratching. In Monique Roffey's Sun Dog (2010), Cosmo waves a single scratching in someone's face. Keep it apart from the chip-shop batter. The two foods share a name and a fryer, but this one is pork rind. A pub points to the pork, and a fish shop to the batter.

5. 5
   nounUKusually plural

   Pieces of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold cheaply with fries.

   She asked the shop for extra scratchings with her cod and chips.

   A single scratching had soaked up all the vinegar in the wrapper.

   Similarscrap

   Note

   A British chip-shop word that lives in the plural: a free bag of scratchings, chips with the pea wet and scratchings thrown in. It names leftovers, the crisp bits gathered at the end of frying and often given away. Writers still feel the need to explain it, as Kathleen Hann does with a gloss in brackets. Scrap and gribble name the same bits.

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