scraping

Everyday

1. Scraping means pulling something hard or sharp across a surface, often to remove something: scraping mud off your boots. tree →
2. Scraping is also the rough, harsh sound this makes. tree →
3. Scraping means hurting your skin by rubbing it on something rough: scraping your knee. tree →
4. Scrapings are the small bits that come off when you scrape something. tree →
5. Scraping (by, through) means only just managing: scraping through a test, scraping by on little money. tree →

In the lessons

Everyday life: scraping ice off a car window, scraping plates into the bin, scraping a knee in the playground. In science, scraping can collect a sample, like scraping cells from inside your cheek to look at under a microscope. In stories, the scraping of a chair or a door makes things tense. Phrases: «scraping by», «scrape through», «scraping the barrel» (using the last, worst things left), «bowing and scraping» (being too polite to someone important).

Examples

• Dad is scraping the ice off the windscreen. tree →
• I heard a scraping sound under the floorboards. tree →
• She fell off her scooter, scraping both knees. tree →
• We are scraping the last bits of cake mix from the bowl. tree →
• The scientist looked at the scrapings under a microscope. tree →
• He is only just scraping through in maths this term. tree →
• Stop scraping your chair on the floor! tree →
• The family is scraping by on one small wage. tree →
• The folk were just sitting down to their soup, and the goodwife scraping the pot. tree →

Note

Spelling: scrape loses its e before -ing: scraping (not scrapeing). Past: scraped. Do not confuse with «scrapping» (double p, from scrap = to throw away or fight). «Scraped knee» is a minor injury: clean it and cover it.