Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK und., also scratched dice) a crooked die, based on the insertion of a pinhead-sized wooden plug for one of the pips in the high numbered faces and thus lowering its profile; when thrown its hitting the table makes a different noise to the official pip, which noise can be noted and exploited by a dice sharp.

1831		Satirist (London) 6 Nov. 246/1: False dice and boxes, technically called ‘scratches,’ ‘dispatches,’ and ‘securers’.
1832		Satirist (London) 26 Feb. 71/1: The Scratch was found out, and began to be practised, about 35 years ago. It is the invention of one William Clark, who is still living, but in the most abject state of poverty. Since the discovery of this mode of cheating, many improvements have been made upon it in detail, without affecting the principle.
1832		Satirist (London) 13 May 159/1: A young man of considerable fortune [...] fell a victim to Burton and the scratched dice, and died a beggar some few years ago.

2. a letter.

1838		W.N. Glascock Land Sharks and Sea Gulls II 86: Howsumever, my name is n’t fixed to the scratch—that’s some comfort.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 74: scratch [...] a letter [a...] writing.
1962		B. Jackson Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 120: Days would drift and linger for a couple of months or more / and I’d receive another scratch from this no-good whore.

3. (US Und.) an IOU or other promissory document, a bad cheque, thus writing a bad cheque.

1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 7 Sept. n.p.: He was sent there [i.e. Sing Sing prison] two years ago on a ‘scratch’.
1914		Wash. Post 11 Nov. Misc. 3/6: In certain circles a bad cheque is a ‘scratch,’ the maker of which is the ‘scratcher’ and the vendor is the ‘layer.’.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 186/1: Scratch, n. [...] A check, usually forged.
1959		(con. 1900-29) L. Katcher Big Bankroll 321: Raymond said bitterly, ‘Not even a scratch.’ He meant he did not even have Rothstein’s scrawled initials on a piece of paper.

4. the struggle to ‘make ends meet’.

1887		Lantern (New Orleans, LA) 22 Jan. 5: What a hard scratch they’d have.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 186: They were broke [...] and settling would be a hard scratch.

5. money; sometimes a small amount.

c.1906		‘Sleepy’ Burke Prison Gates Ajar 10: Those who had the ‘scratch’ were all right.
1914		M. Glass Abe and Mawruss 274: Guy-seppy Scratch-oly [...] That’s a fine name for a banker, Abe.
1928		J. O’Connor Broadway Racketeers 254: Scratch—Silver money.
1935		Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Roll of scratch: Packet of bank notes.
1938		G. Kersh Night and the City 154: After all, I spend scratch on you, I fix you up.
1947		B. Schulberg Harder They Fall (1971) 32: Gus couldn’t resist the temptation to come back for a little easy scratch.
1953		L. Durst Jives of Dr. Hepcat (1989) 2: Your pockets are loaded with ‘scratch’ and if the push comes right down to a shove you got everything covered.
1968		P. Barnes Ruling Class I v: What’s keeping you then, Dan? You’ve got the scratch.
1971		N. Smith Gumshoe (1998) 14: Scratch is — money, not dope.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 179: ‘Come and get your scratch, lads!’ bellowed Dennis [...] They clustered round while Dennis handed out their wages.
1998		L. Stringer Grand Central Winter (1999) 8: It’s all I can do just to hustle up enough scratch every day and go cop something decent.
2007		C. Goffard Snitch Jacket 42: He does it for the scratch [...] He’s after easy money.
2008		Simon & Burns ‘–30–’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 10 [TV script] Motherfucker, where you get than kind of scratch?
2012		J.J. DeCeglie ‘Death Cannot Be Delegated’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] I was also thinking she may have some scratch.
2012		T. Robinson ‘The Long Count’ in Dirty Words [ebook] ‘The man had the cash and he paid. Not the bullshit scratch that you got, either’.
2018		T. Pluck ‘Hot Rod Heart’ in Life During Wartime 120: Where Troy would get that kind of scratch, he didn’t know.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 41: The scratch needed to go to rent, food, real clothes.

6. (US Und.) a forger.

1925

E. Jervis 25 Years in Six Prisons 254: A cheque could be safely be prepared by the ‘scratch’ (forger).

7. (UK/US Und.) silver in quantity.

1928		J. O’Connor Broadway Racketeers 254: Scratch—Silver money.
1941		V. Davis Phenomena in Crime 256: Scratch. Silver in quantity.

8. (US) publicity, a favourable mention in the media.

1946

N.Y. Times 15 Dec. SM16: Scratch: mention of detective or policeman in newspaper.

9. (US) an I.O.U.

1944

D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 205: It is only fair for him to give me a scratch for the dough [...] finally he outs with a notebook and scribbles an I.O.U.

10. (Irish) dole; social security.

2001

G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 the Scratch (a): dole, social security.