scrap

¹ American  

[skrap] / skræp /

noun

1. a small piece or portion; fragment: scraps of cloth.

   a scrap of paper;

   scraps of cloth.

2. scraps,

   1. bits or pieces of food, especially of leftover or discarded food.

   2. the remains of animal fat after the oil has been rendered; cracklings.

3. a detached piece of something written or printed.

   scraps of poetry.

4. broken, discarded, or rejected items or parts for use as raw material or in reprocessing, as old metal that can be melted and reworked.

   The two of them drive around collecting scrap to sell.

5. chips, cuttings, fragments, or other small pieces of raw material removed, cut away, flaked off, etc., in the process of making or manufacturing an item.

   Their cutting process is faster, but have you seen the amount of scrap it generates?

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adjective

1. consisting of pieces or fragments.

2. existing in the form of fragments or remnants of use only for reworking, as metal.

3. discarded or left over.

   She was fashioning a toy out of some scrap wood.

verb (used with object)

scrapped, scrapping

1. to break up into pieces for discarding or reworking.

   to scrap old cars.

2. to discard as useless, worthless, or ineffective.

   He urged that we scrap the old method of teaching mathematics.

scrap ² American  

[skrap] / skræp /

noun

1. a fight or quarrel.

   She got into a scrap with her in-laws.

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verb (used without object)

scrapped, scrapping

1. to engage in a fight or quarrel.

scrap ¹ British  

/ skræp /

noun

1. a small piece of something larger; fragment

2. an extract from something written

3. 1. waste material or used articles, esp metal, often collected and reprocessed

   2. ( as modifier )

      scrap iron

4. (plural) pieces of discarded food

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verb

1. to make into scrap

2. to discard as useless

scrap ² British  

/ skræp /

noun

1. a fight or argument

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verb

1. (intr) to quarrel or fight

Other Word Forms

• scrappingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of scrap¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun scrappe “scrap of food,” from Old Norse skrap, derivative of skrapa “to scrape ”

Origin of scrap²

First recorded in 1670–80; variant of scrape

Explanation

A scrap is a little leftover bit of something. You might jot down notes on a scrap of paper, or you might toss a scrap of food to your happy dog. A scrap is typically a small item that originally was part of something larger, like a scrap of fabric that was once part of a larger piece. Scrap can also describe something that’s no longer useful. For example, you might take scrap metal to the recycling center. A final meaning of the noun scrap is "fight," as in "I got into a scrap with my brother." Scrap also has a verb form that means "discard." When you scrap your plan to move to the Bahamas, that means you’re abandoning the plan.

Example Sentences

Scrap dealers can then raise an alarm if they are offered copper that matches the description of stolen material.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025

On a July day in 2021 that would become blazing hot, dozens of community volunteers gathered before sunrise at the Scrap Exchange, a reuse center for art materials in Durham, N.C.

From Scientific American • Sep. 24, 2023

The couple, who run Tin Man Scrap in Buxton, said they had the idea for a second-hand wedding when they began to spot things they liked among the waste people were dumping.

From BBC • May 11, 2023

Scrap metal recyclers and junk dealers will have to document how they are buying catalytic converters and from whom, as a way to ensure they’re doing business only with owners and qualified sellers.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2022

“Touché,” he says, because he’s Scrap, and sometimes he says touché.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Related Words

• chunk
• fragment
• grain
• hunk
• lump
• morsel
• shred
• sliver
• snippet
• speck