Word.ws English Dictionary

from scratch

from scratch prepositional phrase: from the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (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.
  2. (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.

from scratch meaning in Persian

from scratch in Persian

from the beginning
از اول az avval

Examples of from scratch in a sentence

  • He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.
  • If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.1980, Carl Sagan, Cosmos:
  • The Government's most ambitious plan is to create a software industry almost from scratch.1992 October 25, Michael Stroud, “A Shakeout Looms for Taiwan's Computer Companies”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on...
  • He sat there Friday night and built an entire model ship from scratch.2002, The New Yorker:
  • "By having a research and design facility in north Derbyshire, we will once again build trains from scratch on our shores."2019 October 23, Rail, page 21:

Origin of from scratch

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.

Questions about from scratch

What does from scratch mean?
From scratch means from the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.
What is from scratch in Persian?
From scratch in Persian is از اول (az avval). See From scratch meaning in Persian.
How do you use from scratch in a sentence?
He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.
What part of speech is from scratch?
From scratch is a prepositional phrase.

Words near from scratch in the dictionary

  1. from off of
  2. from on high
  3. from one day to the next
  4. from pillar to post
  5. from post to pillar
  6. from scratch
  7. from sea to shining sea
  8. from side to side
  9. from soda to hock
  10. from someone's mouth to God's ears
  11. from soup to nuts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: from scratch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-from scratch.ogg.

Cite this entry: “from scratch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/from_scratch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.