scratching (out)

verb

present participle of scratch (out)
1
as in writing
to compose and set down on paper the words of scratched out a poem for his beloved wife on the home front

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in deleting
to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it scratched out the old phone number and wrote in the new one

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for scratching (out)
  1. writing
  2. deleting
  3. canceling
Verb
  • Composers devised elaborate systems for writing music that ventured deep into dissonance, away from the rules of tonality that had governed it for centuries.
    — Andy Cush, Pitchfork, 31 Oct. 2026
  • The prompts presented the assistant as a character in creative-writing exercises.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026
Definition of writing
Verb
  • So far, synapse-deleting tools are much less precise than synapse-adding ones.
    — Simon Makin, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Meta describes this option as permanently deleting chat history, stored files and active tasks.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of deleting
Verb
  • No one could’ve blamed the grieving community for canceling the game.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Hours earlier, the 77-year-old wrestling Hall of Famer apologized on social media site X for canceling a weekend appearance at the Washington State Horror Con in Puyallup.
    — Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of canceling
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

scratching
scratching (out)
scratch (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Scratching (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scratching%20%28out%29. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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