See Also: scrap(1)(dictionary)
scrap(2)(dictionary)
scrap(3)(dictionary)
scrap(4)(dictionary)
scrap metal(encyclopedia)
scrap 1, noun(dictionary)
scrap 2, verb(dictionary)
scrap paper(dictionary)

scrap(1) (iou)



scrap noun1. [skrap] LME.
[Old Norse skrap scraps, trifles, from base of skrapa SCRAPE verb.]
In pl. Fragments of uneaten food, esp. as constituting the remains of a meal; odds and ends; useless remnants. LME.
P. Chaplin Dogs nosed under the table for scraps. I. Banks Seagulls..crowding round an out-jutting building, where kitchen scraps are being thrown out.
A remnant; a small detached piece of something; a fragmentary portion; (usu. in neg. contexts) the smallest piece or amount. L16.
D. Cusack There's not a scrap of vice in her. A. Lurie She dressed her dolls in the scraps left from alterations. S. Middleton He sat on a bench in the street, picking up scraps of conversation.
b. A picture, paragraph, etc., cut from a book or newspaper, esp. as to be kept in a collection. L19.
c. A small person or animal. colloq. L19.
R. Rendell The youngest child..was ill...'Poor little scrap'.
sing. & (usu.) in pl. The residue formed in the process of rendering fat or extracting oil from whalemeat, fish, etc. M17.
sing. & (now rare) in pl. Discarded metal for reprocessing. Also scrap-metal. L18.
Phrases: scrap of paper [with ref. to an alleged statement by the German Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg (1856-1921), in connection with German violation of Belgian neutrality in August 1914] a document containing a treaty or pledge which one party does not intend to honour.
Comb.: scrapbook (a) a blank book for sticking pictures, newspaper cuttings, etc., in; (b) a loosely constructed documentary broadcast programme, esp. as covering a particular year or period; scrap heap a heap of scrap iron; an accumulation of discarded metal for reprocessing; on the scrap heap, worn out, superseded; scrap iron (a) cast or wrought iron broken up and set aside for reprocessing; broken pieces and small articles of old and disused ironwork collectively; (b) US slang an alcoholic drink of poor quality; scrap-metal: see sense 4 above; scrap paper (a) paper for repulping or reuse; (b) rough paper for casual jotting; scrap screen (chiefly Hist.) a screen decorated with cut-out pictures etc.; scrapyard the site of a scrap heap; spec. a place where scrap metal is collected.
scraplet noun a small scrap E16.
scrappet noun a small quantity or amount, a little scrap E20.