from scratch

Idioms  

1. From the very beginning, from the outset; from nothing. For example, I knew we'd have a problem from scratch. Similarly, to start from scratch means “to start from the very beginning,” as in After the business failed, they decided to reorganize and start from scratch. This term comes from racing, where a competitor starts from the line scratched into the ground (whereas others may start ahead with a handicap). [Mid-1800s] Also see from the ground up; from the word go.

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Example Sentences

And for good reason: Zimmern, who partnered with Casey’s on a seasonal pie, fell in love with the Midwest business after learning that each location makes its dough from scratch.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 6, 2026

Making a roux from scratch teaches you something.

From Salon • Jun. 2, 2026

Microsoft says it built the model "from scratch" with "no distillation" of rival models -- a common shortcut that involves copying a competitor's outputs to train a new system more cheaply and quickly.

From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026

What you end up having to do is actually go through it again and redo all of it from scratch.

From BBC • May 28, 2026

When Descartes produced his study of the rainbow he had to start from scratch, despite the fact that he was very largely simply repeating the work both of Theodoric and of al-Farisi.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton