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

Example Sentences

A plan to house county behavioral health patients at the site this past summer was also scrapped.

From Los Angeles Times

When FA Cup replays were scrapped from the first round onwards last season, many clubs from the EFL and lower down the football pyramid criticised the decision for taking away a traditional revenue stream.

From BBC

Still, there’s something almost magical about knowing you can make a meal from scraps, stretch a budget, and feed yourself well.

From Salon

But since then the proposed National Care Service has been scrapped.

From BBC

Elderly Cubans are digging through garbage for scraps of food in Havana.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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