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:
The internet as we knew it might have been torn down to the studs by Silicon Valley bigwigs looking to sell the wiring for scrap, but the bones are still good.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
In 2025, the music and arts festival started on time, but heavy rains forced promoters to scrap it before the end of the weekend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
His decision to scrap decades-old fuel subsidies that had drained the Treasury's international dollar reserves caused prices to double, triggering widespread anger.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Silkie Carlo, the director of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, has called for Sainsbury's to scrap the technology, arguing that it is "treating customers like criminals".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
I grabbed it up quickly and had started out—jittery, anxious to leave—when my eye was caught by a scrap of paper also on the table.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
General Motors GM 1.40%increase; up pointing triangle had scrapped its plans for the electric-vehicle battery plant, built with LG Energy Solution, and sold its stake in 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The second phase is now understood to have been scrapped.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
A prototype for a frozen burrito with the same protein load was scrapped, because the tortilla couldn’t hold that much filling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
On Monday night, Soren announced that this exam would also be scrapped.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
They hadn’t scrapped like this in years, since they were boys, and with a sudden sense of relief Moody laughed again even as Trip socked him in the stomach and they toppled onto the floor.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
The tsunami of parcels generated by low-cost e-commerce giants has also been dealt a fresh blow by the scrapping of US tax exemptions for individual shipments valued less than $800.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
Conrad: Carol is going to have to keep scrapping and not let anything worse happen to her son.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The Swiss is in a lonely place after scrapping controversial plans to sell off stakes in Fifa competitions to private investment.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Medicare is scrapping a temporary program that helped keep the price of monthly premiums in check for older adults with Part D prescription drug plans.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
I made some effort to keep up my schooling in the free time I had between scrapping and helping Mother make tinctures and blend oils.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
