- an imaginary meeting-point in a fight, or verbal contest; “coming up to the SCRATCH,” preparing to fight—literally approaching the line which used to be chalked on the ground to divide the ring. According to the rules of the prize ring, the toe should be placed at the SCRATCH, so the phrase often is “toeing the SCRATCH.”
- “no great SCRATCH,” of little worth.
- to strike a horse’s name out of the list of runners in a particular race. “Tomboy was SCRATCHED for the Derby at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, from which period all bets made in reference to him are void.” _See_ P.P.—_Turf._ One of Boz’s characters asks whether horses are “really made more lively by being SCRATCHED.”
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Position in the dictionary: 2999 of 4022 slang words.Next words in the dictionary: scratch-race, screaming, screed, screeve, screever, screw, screw loose., screwed, scrimmage, scrimshaw.
Previous words in the dictionary: scrape, scrap, scran-bag, scran, scrag, scout, scotches, scotch greys, scotch fiddle, scotch coffee