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scrap

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈskɹæp/
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -æp
  • Hyphenation: scrap

Etymology 1

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From Middle English scrappe, from Old Norse skrap, from skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb-, *skrep- (“to engrave”). Cf. Swedish skräp (“garbage”).

Noun

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scrap (countable and uncountable, plural scraps)

  1. A (small) piece; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion.
    Synonyms: scraplet, snippet; see also Thesaurus:piece
    I found a scrap of cloth to patch the hole.
    • 1852, Thomas De Quincey, “Sir William Hamilton”, in Hogg's Instructor:
      I have no materials — not a scrap.
    1. The smallest amount.
      Synonyms: bit, jot; see also Thesaurus:modicum
      I don't care a scrap.
      • 1920, [Elizabeth von Arnim], In the Mountains, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, page 188:
        “I don't mind anything. I don't mind your being technically German a scrap. All I think is that it was a little—well, perhaps a little excessive to marry another German when you had done it once already. […] ”
  2. (usually in the plural) Leftover food.
    Synonyms: gubbins, leftover, ort
    Give the scraps to the animals: any meat to the dogs, and the rest to the hogs.
  3. The crisp substance that remains after drying out animal fat.
    pork scraps
  4. (uncountable) Discarded objects (especially metal) that may be dismantled to recover their constituent materials, junk.
    English Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:trash
    That car isn't good for anything but scrap.
    • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
      “We need a set of wheels to carry out this plan of yours.”
      “Queenie?”
      “We need her now more than ever.”
      “Will she still be in the field where we left her?”
      “No, no, no. The fuzz will have towed her away by now.”
      “Where will she be, then?”
      “They will have sold the old girl off for scrap.”
  5. (UK, in the plural) A piece of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold with chips.
    Synonyms: gribble, scratching
  7. (uncountable) Loose-leaf tobacco of a low grade, such as sweepings left over from handling higher grades.
    Synonym: trash
  8. (ethnic slur, offensive) A Hispanic criminal, especially a Mexican or one affiliated with the Sureno gang.
  9. (obsolete) A snare for catching birds.
Derived terms
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Translations
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