chicken scratch

American

[chik-uhn skrach] / ˈtʃɪk ən ˌskrætʃ /

Or chicken-scratch

noun

handwriting of words or symbols that is too messy or roughly drawn to be easily read.

They need precise specs for the remodeling, but these drawings and dimensions are just chicken scratch.
Milo left us a note, but can anyone figure out his chicken scratch?
a scratchlike mark, often an element of illegible writing.

I had no idea these chicken-scratches were actually the artist’s signature.
That chicken scratch was accidentally made by a utility knife when she was scoring a piece of leather.
supplemental, relatively inexpensive food for chickens, typically cracked corn and grains scattered on the ground for the chickens to scratch through as they eat it.
Informal. something of minimal or deficient value, such as an amount of money that is far less than what would be considered reasonable.

It’s an exposé of those laboring under atrocious conditions for chicken scratch.

verb (used with object)

to handwrite (something) in a manner that is too messy to be easily read.

I start out being neat with my note-taking, but then I lapse into chicken-scratching everything the teacher says.

verb (used without object)

to produce handwriting that is too messy to be easily read.

She chicken-scratches like that on purpose so nobody can read it.
Sometimes you wanna do calligraphy, sometimes you wanna chicken scratch.

Etymology

Origin of chicken scratch

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Typing, voice dictation technology or my usual chicken scratch would’ve done the job far faster.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024

Her situation is less one in a million than it is one of many millions, a chicken scratch in an enormous global tally.

From Time • Jan. 22, 2016

Yet he seemed especially excited about a few basic-looking pieces of Senate stationary, marked with a few lines of chicken scratch, hanging in a frame near the door.

From MSNBC • Dec. 16, 2014

In the chicken scratch of a kindergartner is a single sentence: “No Sidekick Gets Left Behind.”

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2014

Ms. Griegson watched the chicken scratch around for a few minutes.

From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023