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

See Examples For:

from scratch

According to Deadline, which first reported the news, external, filming will restart from scratch when it begins later this year.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Ultraprocessed foods are often cheaper than ingredients used to cook from scratch, and they’re often easier to access.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026

“Brands can spend years and millions of dollars trying to build that kind of cultural equity from scratch, and we already had it,” Lebel said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

"If massive black holes already existed immediately after the bounce, the early Universe would not need to start from scratch when building the first galaxies," Gaztañaga said.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

“Don’t you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework.”

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan