overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

scrape.

To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/skɹeɪp/
  1. To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure.

    ambitransitive
    She scraped the wooden plate with her fingernails.
    That car often scrapes the shallowest of humps because of its low ground clearance.
  2. To remove (something) by drawing an object along in this manner.

    transitive
    Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife.
  3. To injure or damage by rubbing across a surface.

    transitive
    She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee.
  4. To barely manage to achieve or attain.

    transitive
    I scraped a pass in the exam.
  5. To collect or gather, especially without regard to the quality of what is chosen.

    transitive
    Just use whatever you can scrape together.
  6. To extract data by automated means from a format not intended to be machine-readable, such as a screenshot or a formatted web page.

    transitive
    They didn't provide an API, so I simply scraped their website.
  7. To occupy oneself with getting laboriously.

    intransitive
    He scraped and saved until he became rich.
  8. To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or similar instrument.

    ambitransitive
    Some people covered their ears when he started to scrape his violin.
  9. To draw back the right foot along the ground or floor when making a bow.

    intransitive
  10. To express disapprobation of (a play, etc.) or to silence (a speaker) by drawing the feet back and forth upon the floor; usually with down.

Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/skɹeɪp/
  1. A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch).

    countable · uncountable
    He fell on the sidewalk and got a scrape on his knee.
  2. The sound or action of something being scraped.

    countable · uncountable
  3. Something removed by being scraped; a thin layer of something such as butter on bread.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A fight, especially a fistfight without weapons.

    countable · slang · uncountable
    He got in a scrape with the school bully.
  5. An awkward set of circumstances.

    countable · uncountable
    I'm in a bit of a scrape — I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present.
  6. A D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.

    UK · countable · slang · uncountable
  7. A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A shallow pit dug as a hideout.

    countable · uncountable
  9. A shave.

    UK · countable · slang · uncountable
  10. Cheap butter.

    UK · obsolete · slang · uncountable
  11. Butter laid on bread in the thinnest possible manner, as though laid on and scraped off again.

    UK · obsolete · slang · uncountable
  12. A diminutive of the bend (especially of the bend sinister) which is half its width.

    countable · uncountable
  13. An intermittent shallow pond in a wetland or floodplain, often artificially created to attract birds.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

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”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

scrape has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

scrape studioscrape workshello, scrape

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.