Old Scratch
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of Old Scratch
First recorded in 1755–65
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.
Another very amusing scene finds Old Scratch at an open-mike, griping to us about the lame ways he has been depicted, or referred to, in modern media.
From Washington Post
"Old Scratch" is a flexible steel cable, strung with hundreds of steel washers, lubricated by a reservoir of oil-insecticide.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cow just rubs against Old Scratch, is automatically smeared with bug-killer, made happier, puts on weight faster as a result.
From Time Magazine Archive
In his latest picture Comedian Bill Cosby plays his baddest dude yet: Barney Satan, left-hand man to Old Scratch himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
I wish the Old Scratch had got you before you ever came here.
From Tempest and Sunshine by Holmes, Mary Jane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
