scrape
/skɹeɪp/verb, noun
scrape is spelled S-C-R-A-P-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “scrap vs scrape” about 30 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, scrape means “To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scrape?
| Letters | 6: S-C-R-A-P-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,122nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scrape?
Scrape appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,122nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scrape?
- /skɹeɪp/
Scrape has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-scrape.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with scrape
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: scarp.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with scrape?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as scrape.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: spacer, parsec.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scrape
- scrapes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- scraping participle, present
- scraped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scrape mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To draw (an object, especially a sharp or angular one), along (something) while exerting pressure.
She scraped the wooden plate with her fingernails.
- 2
To remove (something) by drawing an object along in this manner.
Scrape the chewing gum off with a knife.
- 3
To injure or damage by rubbing across a surface.
She tripped on a rock and scraped her knee.
- 4
To barely manage to achieve or attain.
I scraped a pass in the exam.
- 5
To collect or gather, especially without regard to the quality of what is chosen.
Just use whatever you can scrape together.
- 6
To extract data by automated means from a format not intended to be machine-readable, such as a screenshot or a formatted web page.
They didn't provide an API, so I simply scraped their website.
- 7
To occupy oneself with getting laboriously.
He scraped and saved until he became rich.
- 8
To play awkwardly and inharmoniously on a violin or similar instrument.
Some people covered their ears when he started to scrape his violin.
noun
- 1
A broad, shallow injury left by scraping (rather than a cut or a scratch).
He fell on the sidewalk and got a scrape on his knee.
- 2
The sound or action of something being scraped.
- 3
Something removed by being scraped; a thin layer of something such as butter on bread.
- 4
slangA fight, especially a fistfight without weapons.
He got in a scrape with the school bully.
- 5
An awkward set of circumstances.
I'm in a bit of a scrape – I've no money to buy my wife a birthday present.
- 6
UKslangA D and C or abortion; or, a miscarriage.
- 7
A shallow depression used by ground birds as a nest; a nest scrape.
- 8
A shallow pit dug as a hideout.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scrape in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gratter, racler , effleurer, égratigner, érafler |
| German | abkratzen, kratzen, schaben, scharren, schrammen , Schramme |
| Portuguese | arranhar, raspar , ralar, esfolar , ralado |
| Spanish | raspar , raer, choyar, chollar , abrasión, rasponazo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scrape come from?
From Middle English scrapen, from Old Norse skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”) and Old English scrapian (“to scrape, scratch”), both from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skrebʰ- (“to engrave”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).