US /ˈskreɪpɚ/ UK /ˈskreɪpə/
noun Freq #49117

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a tool, blade, or implement used to remove material by scraping

    A steel scraper removed the old paint without gouging the wood.

  2. 2
    noun

    a roughened ridge or projection in an animal that is rubbed against a rasp to produce sound

    The beetle moved its scraper rapidly across the ribbed rasp to stridulate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a tool, blade, or implement... scraping toolblade
2 noun · a roughened ridge or... stridulatory scraper
Word family
Forms scrapers
Derived forms bootscraperearthscraperskyscrapertractor-scraper
Related forms scraperaspstridulation

Etymology

From scrape + the agent and instrument suffix -er. The ordinary tool sense is medieval; zoologists later used scraper for the ridge or projection rubbed across a rasp in an animal's stridulatory apparatus.

Topics

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