cratch

C3R1A1T1C3H4
/kɹæt͡ʃ/

verb

To scratch.

“A good pair of nails to cratch and claw.”

OriginMiddle English cratchen ← Old Norse *kratsa ← Middle Low German kratsen →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

cratch1

verbcratch (third-person singular simple present cratches, present participle cratching, simple past and past participle cratched)

present singular third person cratches · participle present cratching · participle past cratched · past cratched

  1. obsoleteTo scratch.

    A good pair of nails to cratch and claw.

cratch2

nouncratch (plural cratches)

plural cratches

  1. obsoleteA grated crib or manger.

    Begin from first where He encradled was, / In simple cratch, wrapt in a wad of hay.

    1596, Edmund Spenser, A Hymne of Heavenly Love
  2. nauticalThe vertical planks at the forward end of the hold of a traditional English narrowboat which constrain the cargo and support the top plank or walkway.

    The fore-end of the cargo space terminates in a triangular board, called the cratch, raised to the same height as the cabin roof and connected to it […]

    1966, Gervis Frere-Cook, The decorative arts of the mariner

cratch3

nouncratch (plural cratches)

plural cratches

  1. A swelling on a horse's pastern, under the fetlock.

Origin

cratch · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ger-“to scratch, carve, cut”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*krattōn“to scratch”
  3. Old High Germankrazzōn
  4. Middle Low Germankratsen
  5. Old Norse*kratsa
  6. Middle Englishcratchen
  7. Englishcratch

From Middle English cratchen, cracchen (“to scratch”), alteration of *cratsen (“to scratch”), from Old Norse *kratsa or Middle Low German kratsen, krassen (“to scratch”), both ultimately from Old High German krazzōn, crazōn (“to scratch”), from Proto-West Germanic *krattōn (“to scratch”), ultimately of uncertain, likely onomatopoeic origin, and/or derived from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to scratch, carve, cut”). Cognate with Icelandic krota (“to engrave”). Compare also Icelandic krassa (“to scrawl”), Danish kradse (“to scratch, scrape, claw”), Swedish kratsa (“to scratch”), Dutch kratsen (“to scratch”), German kratzen (“to scratch”), and Albanian gërresë (“rasp, scraper”). Doublet of grate.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Middle Low German

Full word history & related roots →

cratch · noun

  1. Proto-Germanic*kribjǭ
  2. Frankish*krippjā
  3. Old Frenchcreche“crib, manger”
  4. Middle Englishcratche
  5. Englishcratch

From Middle English cratche, cracche, crecche (“crib”), from Old French creche (“crib, manger”), from Frankish *krippjā, *kribbjā (“crib”), from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. More at creche, crib.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Frankish

Full word history & related roots →

cratch · noun

From Etymology 1.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cratch

matchpatchcatchattachbatchscratchdispatchbachhatchlatchmismatchdetachrematchtachthatchnatchBandersnatchklatcheyecatchflatchGreat ThatchLittle Thatchoutmatchstatch
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

cratch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cratch

MLA

“cratch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cratch. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cratch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cratch.

Source: cratch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.