| Principal Translations |
WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary © 2026:
| scratch n | (cut, scrape on skin) | rasguño nm |
| | | arañazo nm |
| | Brian fell off a ladder into a rose bush and he's covered in scratches. |
| | Brian se cayó de la escalera sobre un arbusto de rosas y está lleno de rasguños. |
| scratch n | (scrape on surface) | rasguño nm |
| | | raspón nm |
| | This old table has several scratches. |
| | La vieja mesa tiene muchos rasguños. |
| scratch [sth]⇒ vtr | (itch: rub with fingernails) (propio cuerpo) | rascarse⇒ v prnl |
| | | rascar⇒ vtr |
| | Sally scratched her itchy foot. |
| | Salí se rascó el pie. |
| scratch⇒ vi | (rub body with fingernails) | rascarse⇒ v prnl |
| | | rasguñarse⇒ v prnl |
| | | rasguñarse⇒ v prnl |
| | Larry had been bitten by mosquitoes and was scratching constantly. |
| | A Larry lo habían picado los mosquitos y se rascaba constantemente. |
| scratch [sth]⇒ vtr | (scrape, leave a mark on) | rayar⇒ vtr |
| | Helen scratched her car trying to get into a parking space that was too small. |
| | Helen rayó el auto tratando de estacionarlo en un lugar muy pequeño. |
| scratch [sth] vtr | figurative, informal (cancel) | cancelar⇒ vtr |
| | So, let's meet on Tuesday. Oh, actually, Tuesday's no good, so scratch that; we'll do Wednesday instead. |
| | Encontrémonos el martes. Ah, no, el martes no puedo, cancelemos eso y encontrémonos el miércoles. |
| Compound Forms: |
WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary © 2026:
| from scratch adv | (starting with the raw materials) | desde cero loc adv |
| | (comida) | uno mismo loc adv |
| | I made the cake with no mix, completely from scratch. |
| | ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. La compañía tecnológica desarrolló desde cero su nueva computadora, que no está basada en modelos anteriores. |
| | No usé mezclas de caja para hacer el pastel, sino que lo hice todo yo mismo. |
hen scratch,
hen scratch (US),
chicken scratch (UK) n | figurative, informal (illegible handwriting) | garabatos, garrapatos nmpl |
scrape out an existence,
scratch out an existence,
eke out an existence v expr | (obtain daily necessities with difficult) | ganarse la vida a duras penas loc verb |
| | (CL) | vivir a medio morir saltando loc verb |
| | She managed to scrape out an existence by working three low-paying jobs. |
| | Ella logra ganarse la vida a duras penas trabajando en tres empleos mal pagados. |
| | | sobrevivir⇒ vi |
| | | arreglárselas v prnl |
| | Ella logra sobrevivir trabajando en tres empleos mal pagados. |
scratch building,
scratchbuilding n | (building a model without a kit) | construcción desde cero nf + loc adv |
scratch card,
scratchcard n | UK (instant lottery ticket) | tarjeta rasca y gana, tarjeta raspa y gana loc nom f |
| | (informal) | rasca y gana, raspa y gana loc nom m |
| | (AR, EC, UY) | raspadita nf |
| | Henry was feeling lucky so he went to his local shop to buy a scratch card. |
| | Henry se sentía con suerte y fue a la tienda a comprar una tarjeta rasca y gana. |
| | Henry se sentía con suerte y fue a la tienda a comprar un raspa y gana. |
scratch my back and I'll scratch yours,
you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours expr | (will return favor) | hoy por ti, mañana por mí expr |
| | | favor con favor se paga expr |
| scratch [sth] out vtr + adv | (text: strike) | tachar⇒ vtr |
| | The salesman scratched out the price and wrote a lower one. |
| | El vendedor tachó el precio y escribió uno más barato. |
| scratch [sth] out vtr + adv | (remove by clawing) | arrancar de un arañazo loc verb |
| | I think that crazy cat was trying to scratch my eyes out! |
| | ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. Cuidado con ese gato, es malísimo, te puede arrancar un ojo de un arañazo. |
| scratch out a living v expr | informal (struggle to earn money) | ganarse la vida loc verb |
| | | sobrevivir⇒ vi |
| | Even with two jobs it's hard to scratch out a living in this city. |
| scratch pad n | US (wad of paper for scribbling notes) | bloc de notas, bloc de apuntes loc nom m |
| | | anotador nm |
| | I keep a scratch pad by the phone so I can jot down who called. |
| | Tengo un bloc de notas a un lado del teléfono para anotar quien llamó. |
| scratch paper n | US (rough paper for notes, etc.) | papel borrador loc nom m |
| | Just use scratch paper to quickly write down your ideas. |
| | You can use those nearly blank pages that have run through the printer as scratch paper. |
| | Usa papel borrador para anotar rápidamente tus ideas. // Puedes usar esas hojas casi en blanco que pasaron por la impresora como papel borrador. |
| scratch the surface v expr | figurative (examine superficially) (figurado) | arañar la superficie loc verb |
| | The author never manages more than to scratch the surface of life. |
| | El autor nunca logra más que arañar la superficie de la vida. |
| start from scratch v expr | (start from the very beginning) | empezar de cero, empezar desde cero loc verb |
| | (algo ya hecho) | volver a empezar loc verb |
| | When my grandparents first came to this country, they had to start from scratch. |
| up to scratch adj | informal, figurative (meets expected standard) | dar la talla loc verb |
| | I didn't get the job as a tour guide because my spoken Spanish wasn't up to scratch. |
| | No me dieron el trabajo de guía turístico porque no di la talla con mi dominio del castellano. |