chicken scratch
3
8.4
- noun
- /ˈtʃɪkən skrætʃ/
- Informal
:
garabato
- Can you decipher this chicken scratch on the page?
- chicken scratch handwriting
- read chicken scratch
Examples
-
It's chicken scratch.
-
I hope someday to get paid for my chicken scratch.
Blog text (20) -
It's just chicken scratch.
-
Even Cas couldn't read the chicken scratch on the God rock.
Blog text (27) -
What's this chicken scratch?
-
"Your notes are a real mess; they look like chicken scratch."
-
I couldn't make out his chicken scratch when he handed me the paper.
Synonyms
13
8.1
Messy handwriting that is hard to read
7
3.5
Messy, quick writing or drawing that is hard to read and has little meaning
6
5.7
Messy handwriting that is hard to read
1
3.5
Messy handwriting that is hard to read
Writing that is hard to read or shows poor spelling
Thin, light writing with long, uneven lines like spider legs
Antonyms
How Legible
- Informal
3
8.4
1
7.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
chicken + scratch
The meaning 'messy handwriting' is directly derivable from combining 'chicken' (evoking the irregular scratches chickens make) with 'scratch' (a scribble or illegible mark), producing a clear visual analogy to messy writing. This noun+noun compositional pattern is immediately interpretable by learners who know both words, so a B1 learner would likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The noun chicken scratch may come from the small, messy marks a chicken makes when it pecks and scratches the dirt. These quick, messy lines look like bad handwriting, so the phrase came to mean 'handwriting that is messy and hard to read'.