scrap
1 Americannoun
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a small piece or portion; fragment: scraps of cloth.
a scrap of paper;
scraps of cloth.
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scraps,
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bits or pieces of food, especially of leftover or discarded food.
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the remains of animal fat after the oil has been rendered; cracklings.
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a detached piece of something written or printed.
scraps of poetry.
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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.
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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?
adjective
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consisting of pieces or fragments.
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existing in the form of fragments or remnants of use only for reworking, as metal.
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discarded or left over.
She was fashioning a toy out of some scrap wood.
verb (used with object)
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to break up into pieces for discarding or reworking.
to scrap old cars.
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to discard as useless, worthless, or ineffective.
He urged that we scrap the old method of teaching mathematics.
noun
verb (used without object)
noun
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a small piece of something larger; fragment
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an extract from something written
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waste material or used articles, esp metal, often collected and reprocessed
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( as modifier )
scrap iron
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(plural) pieces of discarded food
verb
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to make into scrap
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to discard as useless
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing scrap
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.
See Examples For:
In the 1940s, for example, he sets out to collect scrap iron for the war effort and ends up absconding with a private collection of military memorabilia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
The government is to scrap its advisory body on social mobility, with a new "class unit" charged with improving life opportunities for poorer people.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bettencourt urged the board to scrap the current proposal and go back to the plan outlined in 2022.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
That push for digital sovereignty led French authorities in June to scrap Palantir data systems for its intelligence services in favour of a domestic supplier.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
There’s not much room to stand, but there’s an old coffee table, a scrap of carpet, and a bookcase.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
He added that he had recently been on a fact-finding trip to Sweden, which scrapped inheritance taxes in 2005.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had hoped Ohtani could play Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds, but that plan was scrapped and there is no date for his return to the lineup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
UK travellers faced more misery on Wednesday with more than 150 flights scrapped across the country, as Britain's air traffic control service scrambled to recover from a technical glitch that sparked chaos.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
When the scrapped “John Galliano: Horizons” was announced in July, the exhibition was immediately met with an outpouring of criticism.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
I found the gang lounging lazily atop the hood of a scrapped ’65 Chevy, basking in the flaring morning sun waiting for me.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Burnham has already offered "breathing space" - as he calls it – on the cost of living by temporarily scrapping VAT on electricity bills from October.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
And most recently, states have been scrapping tax incentives that aim to lure data-center projects to their states, which would cost the builders billions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Sometimes I mix fats, which is wholly unnecessary but can feel strangely luxe when you’re otherwise scrapping it out with the last tablespoons of whatever is left in the fridge.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
In the 2023-24 season, widespread fan action including littering pitches with tennis balls and chocolate coins resulted in the scrapping of an investment deal, despite the proposal winning majority support of clubs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
On May 23 Conant summoned to Washington all the program chiefs— Lawrence, Briggs, Compton, Murphree, and Urey—in the hope of settling on one or two separation methods and scrapping the others.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
