from scratch
English
Etymology
From the scratch drawn in the ground serving as the starting line of a foot race. A runner “starting from scratch” received no handicap, but started at the beginning of the course.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Prepositional phrase
from scratch
- (idiomatic) From the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.
- There were so many errors in the program that the programmer decided to rewrite it from scratch.
- When the writer finished writing his book, it was stolen and now he has to rewrite it from scratch.
- He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.
- 1980, Cosmos, Carl Sagan
- If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
- (idiomatic) From basic materials or raw ingredients.
- She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch.
- He was out of pancake mix so he had to make the batter from scratch.
- 2002, The New Yorker
- He sat there Friday night and built an entire model ship from scratch.
- 2019 October 23, Rail, page 21:
- "By having a research and design facility in north Derbyshire, we will once again build trains from scratch on our shores."
Related terms
- from the ground up
- scratch-built
- scratch made
Translations
from the beginning
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from raw ingredients
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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References
- “from scratch”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.