to scrape up
- phrasal verb
- /skreɪp ʌp/
- He had to scrape up funds from various friends to help cover his unexpected medical bills.
- scrape up money
- scrape up cash
- scrape up funds
No, I I had to scrape up money for a Little Caesar's pizza.
- No, I I had to scrape up money for a Little Caesar's pizza.
- No matter the you can always scrape up some funding to stay alive and they continue working diligently.
- You can hope that you can kind of scrape up and, and, and have something from it, but why didn't they put it in today, put it in today, put it in today.
Examples
-
" My grandfather's family didn't have much money, but what little they could scrape up—or borrow—they paid for places like these.
Blog text (19) -
I was able to scrape up twenty-five bucks before we left.
Fiction book (1994) -
I need everyone to go home, scrape up as much cash as you can find, all right?
-
Now, I can scrape up ten grand without much trouble.
Fiction book (1990) -
I can barely scrape up money for myself. "Done," Paul said.
Fiction book (1993) -
Plus, I have mortgage payments to make since I scraped up a down payment on a little house.
Fiction book (1995) -
And if you do scrape up $1.50, use it to buy yourself a sandwich.
-
That's all he could scrape up with the banks closed.
-
Well, Robert, I don't know how to say this, but unless you plan on taking me on pro bono, I'm gonna have to scrape up some money.
-
We need to scrape up some money for the charity event this weekend.
Synonyms
To get together a small amount of money with difficulty
To gather information or things from different places
Gather small amounts of money or supplies with difficulty
To quickly make or find something, often food, using what you have
To find or get something often with effort
Gather a small amount of money or supplies by trying hard
Get small amounts of money by asking other people or finding coins
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination of 'scrape' (suggesting scraping together small amounts) and the particle 'up' (indicating achieving or gathering) makes the general idea of collecting with effort partly inferable, but the specific sense of managing to gather money or resources is a metaphorical extension that may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure. The meaning is therefore partially compositional but relies on idiomatic narrowing, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb scrape up comes from the image of using a hand or tool to scrape tiny bits, like coins or crumbs, up into a small pile. So, it means 'to manage to collect or get something, often with difficulty'.