a small piece or portion; fragment: a scrap of paper.
2.
scraps,
a.
bits or pieces of food, esp. of leftover or discarded food.
b.
the remains of animal fat after the oil has been tried out.
3.
a detached piece of something written or printed: scraps of poetry.
4.
an old, discarded, or rejected item or substance for use in reprocessing or as raw material, as old metal that can be melted and reworked.
5.
chips, cuttings, fragments, or other small pieces of raw material removed, cut away, flaked off, etc., in the process of making or manufacturing an item.
–adjective
6.
consisting of scraps or fragments.
7.
existing in the form of fragments or remnants of use only for reworking, as metal.
8.
discarded or left over.
–verb (used with object)
9.
to make into scraps or scrap; break up: to scrap old cars.
10.
to discard as useless, worthless, or ineffective: He urged that we scrap the old method of teaching mathematics.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME scrappe (n.) < ON skrap, deriv. of skrapa to scrape]
"small piece," 1387, from O.N. skrap "scraps, trifles," from skrapa "to scrape" (see scrape). Meaning "remains of metal produced after rolling or casting" is from 1790. The verb meaning "to make into scrap" is recorded from 1891. Scrapbook first recorded 1825. Scrap iron first recorded 1823.
"fight," 1846, possibly a variant of scrape (q.v.) on the notion of "an abrasive encounter." But Weekley suggests obs. colloq. scrap "scheme, villainy, vile intention" (1679). The verb is recorded from 1874.
a small fragment of something broken off from the whole; "a bit of rock caught him in the eye" [syn: bit]
2.
worthless material that is to be disposed of [syn: rubbish]
3.
a small piece of something that is left over after the rest has been used; "she jotted it on a scrap of paper"; "there was not a scrap left"
4.
the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; "a fight broke out at the hockey game"; "there was fighting in the streets"; "the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap" [syn: fight]
verb
1.
dispose of (something useless or old); "trash these old chairs"; "junk an old car"; "scrap your old computer" [syn: trash]
2.
have a disagreement over something; "We quarreled over the question as to who discovered America"; "These two fellows are always scrapping over something" [syn: quarrel]
3.
make into scrap or refuse; "scrap the old airplane and sell the parts"
SCRAP Something written at CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa in the late 1970s. It ran on Interdata and Perkin-Elmer computers and was in use until the late 1980s. [But what was it?] (1994-12-15)
Scrap\ (skr[a^]p), n. [OE. scrappe, fr. Icel. skrap trifle, cracking. See Scrape, v. t.]1. Something scraped off; hence, a small piece; a bit; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion. I have no materials -- not a scrap. --De Quincey. 2. Specifically, a fragment of something written or printed; a brief excerpt; an unconnected extract. 3. pl. The crisp substance that remains after drying out animal fat; as, pork scraps. 4. pl. Same as Scrap iron, below. Scrap forgings, forgings made from wrought iron scrap. Scrap iron. (a) Cuttings and waste pieces of wrought iron from which bar iron or forgings can be made; -- called also wrought-iron scrap. (b) Fragments of cast iron or defective castings suitable for remelting in the foundry; -- called also foundry scrap, or cast scrap.