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ramble, or a collection of brambles growing together. He jumped into a bramble bush And scratched out both his eyes. Mother Goose.

from the fingers of one to those of another, at each transfer with a change of form. See Cratch, Cratch cradle. -- To let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secret, carelessly or willfully. [Colloq.] -- Bush cat, the serval. See Serval.

To fight and scratch. C. Smart.

To pull, tear, or scratch with, or as with, claws or nails.

A detent, pawl, or ratchet, as that which catches the cogs of a ratchet wheel to prevent backward motion. See Illust. of Ratched wheel.

o recover one's senses. -- To come to pass, to happen; to fall out. -- To come to the scratch. (a) (Prize Fighting) To step up to the scratch or mark made in the ring to be toed by the combatants in beginning a contest; hence: (b) To meet an antagonist or a difficulty bravely. [Colloq.] -- To come to time. (a) (Prize…

To scratch. [Obs.] Chaucer.

A gentle blow with the hand or some soft substance; a sudden blow or hit; a peck. Astratch of her clame, a dab of her beack. Hawthorne.

Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [Obs.] Each envious brier his weary legs doth scratch. Shak.

The act of erasing; a scratching out; obliteration.

An accidental and favorable stroke at billiards (called a scratch in the United States); hence, any accidental or unexpected advantage; as, he won by a fluke. [Cant, Eng.] A. Trollope.

Production of decorative designs by scratching them through a surface of layer plaster, glazing, etc., revealing a different- colored ground; also, pottery or ware so decorated; -- chiefly used attributively.

A light touch; a slight scratch.

straw or felt. -- Gypsy winch, a small winch, which may be operated by a crank, or by a ratchet and pawl through a lever working up and down.

The cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body, determined by its capacity to scratch another, or be itself scratched;-measured among minerals on a scale of which diamond and talc form the extremes.

explained, interpreted, or accounted for; as, an inexplicable mystery. "An inexplicable scratching." Cowper. Their reason is disturbed; their views become vast and perplexed, to others inexplicable, to themselves uncertain. Burke.

To have an uneasy sensation in the skin, which inclines the person to scratch the part affected. My mouth hath itched all this long day. Chaucer.

A mark or blemish made by bruising, scratching, or the like; a disfigurement.

race, dot, line, imprint, or discoloration, although not regarded as a token or sign; a scratch, scar, stain, etc.; as, this pencil makes a fine mark. I have some marks of yours upon my pate. Shak.

A ratchet movement in a loom. Mousing hook, a hook with an attachment which prevents its unhooking.