Word.ws English Dictionary

scratch the itch

scratch the itch is the alternative form of scratch an itch.

Meaning of scratch an itch

Verb

scratch an itch (third-person singular simple present scratches an itch, present participle scratching an itch, simple past and past participle scratched an itch)

  1. (idiomatic) To satisfy a need or desire.
    • Near-synonyms: hit the spot, hit the button
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see scratch, itch.

Forms of scratch the itch

third-person singular presentscratch the itches
present participlescratch the itching
past participlescratch the itched
pastscratch the itched

Questions about scratch the itch

What is scratch the itch the alternative form of?
Scratch the itch is the alternative form of scratch an itch.

Words near scratch the itch in the dictionary

  1. scratch someone's back
  2. scratch tape
  3. scratch team
  4. scratch teams
  5. scratch that
  6. scratch the itch
  7. scratch the surface
  8. scratch together
  9. scratch up
  10. scratch wig
  11. scratch wigs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scratch the itch (page history and authors); scratch an itch (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:

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