from scratch

prepositional phrase

From the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.

“She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch.”

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticFrom the beginning; starting with no advantage or prior preparation.

    He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch.

    5 more examples

    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.

    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. Encouraged by the success of a technology park in Hsinchu, near Taipei, planners are investing millions of dollars in a software park in Nankang, also near Taipei, to open in about three years.

    1992 October 25, Michael Stroud, “A Shakeout Looms for Taiwan's Computer Companies”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 14 Oct 2022, Business

    The advantages are that you may be able to build your services more quickly because you would not be starting from scratch, and you would proved a very friendly experience for your users, potentially eliminating or at least decreasing a variety of status inquiries and the possibility of missubmitting requests.

    2006, Ioana V. Bazavan, Ian Lim, Information Security Cost Management, page 198
  2. idiomaticFrom basic materials or raw ingredients.

    She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch.

    3 more examples

    He was out of pancake mix so he had to make the batter from scratch.

    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

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.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans van die begin af
  • van die begin affrom the beginning
Bulgarian започвам отначало
  • започвам отначало (započvam otnačalo)from the beginning
Catalan des de zero, de cap i de nou
  • des de zerofrom the beginning
  • de cap i de noufrom the beginning
  • des del principifrom the beginning
Chinese Mandarin 從頭做起 /从头做起, 從頭開始 /从头开始
  • 從頭做起 /从头做起 (cóngtóu zuòqǐ)from the beginning
  • 從頭開始 /从头开始 (cóngtóu kāishǐ)from the beginning
  • 白手起家 (báishǒuqǐjiā)from the beginning
  • 用原料來... /用原料来... (yòng yuánliào lái...)from raw ingredients
Dutch vanaf nul, helemaal opnieuw
  • vanaf nulfrom the beginning
  • helemaal opnieuwfrom the beginning
  • vanaf het beginfrom the beginning
  • vanaf het beginfrom raw ingredients
Finnish tyhjästä, alusta alkaen
  • tyhjästäfrom the beginning
  • alusta alkaenfrom the beginning
  • raaka-aineistafrom raw ingredients
French à partir de zéro, de zéro
  • à partir de zérofrom the beginning
  • de zérofrom the beginning
German von Grund auf, von neuem
  • von Grund auffrom the beginning
  • von neuemfrom the beginning
  • von der Pike auffrom the beginning
Hungarian elölről
  • elölrőlfrom the beginning
Italian da capo, di sana pianta
  • da capofrom the beginning
  • di sana piantafrom the beginning
  • dal nullafrom the beginning
  • ex novofrom the beginning
  • da zerofrom raw ingredients
  • dal nullafrom raw ingredients
Japanese 最初から, ゼロから
  • 最初から (saisho kara)from the beginning
  • ゼロからfrom the beginning
  • ゼロの状態から (zero no jōtai kara)from the beginning
  • はなから (hana kara)from the beginning
  • 手作り (tezukuri)from raw ingredients
Latin ex nihilo
  • ex nihilofrom raw ingredients
Norwegian fra bunnen av
  • fra bunnen avfrom the beginning
Persian از اول
  • از اول (az avval)from the beginning
Polish od nowa, od początku
  • od nowafrom the beginning
  • od początkufrom the beginning
  • od zerafrom the beginning
  • od podstawfrom the beginning
  • od podstawfrom raw ingredients
Portuguese do nada, do zero
  • do nadafrom the beginning
  • do zerofrom the beginning
Russian с чи́стого листа́, с нуля́
  • с чи́стого листа́ (s čístovo listá)from the beginning
  • с нуля́ (s nuljá)from the beginning
  • с са́мого нача́ла (s sámovo načála)from the beginning
Spanish de/desde cero, ex novo
  • de/desde cerofrom the beginning
  • ex novofrom the beginning
  • de/desde cerofrom raw ingredients
  • ex novofrom raw ingredients
Turkish baştan, sıfırdan
  • baştanfrom the beginning
  • sıfırdanfrom the beginning
Cite this entry
APA

from scratch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/from%20scratch

MLA

“from scratch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/from%20scratch. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “from scratch,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/from%20scratch.

Source: from scratch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.