scratching

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of scratch

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act or sound of something being scratched.

   “We heard further scratchings at the door as the dog whined to be let in.”

   “It was early on the fifteenth day that I heard a curious familiar sequence of sounds in the kitchen, and, listening, identified it as the snuffing and scratching of a dog.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A pork scratching.

   “'Ugggghhhhh!' she made a face at the packet. 'Oink, oink!' Cosmo laughed, waving a scratching near her face.”

3. (countable, uncountable)Record scratching, a technique of starting and stopping a vinyl record from playing to produce music in hip hop.
4. (UK, countable, in-plural, uncountable)A piece of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold with chips.

   “We all had a portion of chips and one fish was shared between all of us. Sometimes the lady serving would give us a free bag of scratchings (the bits of batter).”

   “The crispy bits of batter and small crispy chips that were left at the end of the night were given away to whoever needed them. If he could, Cesidio would throw in a free 'haddie' or a haggis with the scratchings, offering a helping hand discreetly, with no thanks asked for.”

   “The best thing is, you pay for the chips and you get the pea wet and scratchings for free. It's lovely. You should try it.”