scratch the surface
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Who knows, but the charges may scratch the surface of the welfare fraud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
“But then you scratch the surface a bit more and you look at things like electricity prices.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
The 13 films below only scratch the surface of Corman’s huge filmography, but they do provide a glimpse into his ambition and his sensibility as both a director and a micro studio boss.
From New York Times ● May 12, 2024
Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, said: "These fly-tipping figures barely scratch the surface of a crime that's blighting rural communities, with incidents on private land going unrecorded on a mass scale."
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
I could see that I was just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding race in America.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
