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

Explanation

A scrap is a little leftover bit of something. You might jot down notes on a scrap of paper, or you might toss a scrap of food to your happy dog. A scrap is typically a small item that originally was part of something larger, like a scrap of fabric that was once part of a larger piece. Scrap can also describe something that’s no longer useful. For example, you might take scrap metal to the recycling center. A final meaning of the noun scrap is "fight," as in "I got into a scrap with my brother." Scrap also has a verb form that means "discard." When you scrap your plan to move to the Bahamas, that means you’re abandoning the plan.

Example Sentences

She can rebound and scrap for loose balls too, and with Ariel Atkins reportedly being traded, Rice could play a big role.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

As a $5.28-an-hour porter he had to scrap 15,000 square feet of trash every 60 minutes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

During a scrap of time between active investigations, Stafford opened the digitized files from Cynthia’s case.

From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026

It may be a mere scrap of land, but Kharg handles around 90 percent of Iran's crude exports, according to a report by US bank JP Morgan.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

On the floor of the locker the only mess is mine: a broken bootlace, a hatpin, and a scrap of paper with handwritten text, which I bend to pick up.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

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