🪮 A scratching tool 🎟️ A lottery ticket 🎧 A DJ performer 🤲 A person who scratches

scratcher

2 7.5

A DJ who moves records back and forth to make rhythmic sounds

noun
/ˈskrætʃər/

Jargon

: turntablista

He's a real mother scratcher.

Examples

Turns out Gloria's a pretty good ear scratcher, too.

A Dog's Journey (2019)
Maybe not as important as Ezeli not getting 25, but still a head scratcher.

Blog text (21)
That mother scratcher is mine.

Skinned Alive (1990)
Hi, one scratcher, please.

Just My Luck (2006)
If I have to listen to that damn WB Record Scratchers ad again, I'm physically going to throw my laptop across the room.

Blog text (12)
The talented scratcher amazed the crowd with his unique vinyl techniques during the concert.
At the party, the scratcher created incredible beats that got everyone dancing.
Many famous producers started their careers as scratchers before moving on to bigger projects.

Compounds

head-scratcher

Informal

4 7.7

A problem that is hard to understand or solve

booty scratcher

Offensive

9.9

A joking or insulting name for a person who scratches their bottom

lucky scratcher

8.2

A person who often wins money from scratch cards

Surface Forms

scratcher singular

scratchers plural

Morphology

scratcher = scratch (semi-transparent) = scratch + er

Formally an agentive '-er' from 'scratch', but the DJ meaning relies on specialized knowledge of the music technique 'to scratch' records.

Etymology

Scratcher comes from scratch ('to rub or scrape back and forth') plus -er ('one who'). DJs called scratchers because they move vinyl records back and forth to 'scrape' sounds and make new rhythms.