scratch pad
1
2.3
- noun
- /ˈskrætʃ pæd/
:
bloc de notas
- On the scratch pad beside the phone were several numbers scribbled in Hy's hand, one of them P212, the office on Oahu.
Examples
-
And then get a scratch pad.
Blog text (32) -
She stares at the papers, at the scratch pad, takes a deep breath, and punches out a number on the phone.
Fiction book (1992) -
Place strip sticky side up on the scratch pad below.
-
The Windows clipboard is like a scratch pad used by the operating system and all running applications.
Blog text (9) -
For a moment, Marissa merely stared at the figure she had written on her scratch pad.
Fiction book (1991) -
She grabbed a scratch pad bearing the hotel's name to write down the address.
Fiction book (1991) -
"The lady fumbled in her purse for a small scratch pad and then sheepishly held it toward him.
Fiction book (1992) -
Just a pile of papers to shuffle around, and five sharp pencils... and a scratch pad to make figures on, maybe a little doodling on the side.
-
Spread out over the desk are various documents: the photo of Kirsty, the diagram of the box, typewritten transcripts, etc., and a scratch pad on which Joey has scrawled several numbers.
Fiction book (1992) -
During the meeting, I jotted down my ideas on a scratch pad for later reference.
Synonyms
88
1.0
A stack of paper sheets fastened at one edge for writing
50
1.8
A flat pad of paper used for writing or drawing
18
1.0
A small pad of blank or lined paper for writing notes
13
2.1
A book with blank pages for making quick drawings
5
1.0
A set of paper sheets joined at one edge for writing or drawing
3
2.7
A book of blank paper for drawing or making quick pictures
1
2.8
A book of blank pages for drawing
1
2.0
A small stack of paper for writing short notes to leave for others
1
2.2
A piece of paper used for quick notes or rough calculations
1
1.1
A pad of paper for making notes or short messages
A small notebook for writing quick notes or doing math
A pad of paper for quick notes and sketches
A book of blank paper for drawing quick pictures
How Temporary
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'pad of blank paper for quick notes' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'scratch' (a scribble or rough jotting) with 'pad' (a stack of sheets for writing) — i.e., a pad for making scratches/rough notes. This noun–noun compounding follows regular English compositional patterns and is likely interpretable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Scratch pad comes from the simple idea of using a small pad to scratch quick marks or 'rough notes' on paper. That's why scratch pad now means a pad of blank paper for quick notes, sketches, or simple calculations.