Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Anglo-Irish) a toe.

1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 45: Sally is off, and left me to pad on my ten scratchers!
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 85/1: But poor chuckey! her glory had departed, and she was ‘bowled out’ on every counter by the noise she made, tapping with her artificial scratchers.

2. (Anglo-Irish) a finger, usu. in pl.; a hand.

1821

‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 267: Sweet bad luck to me if I haven’t as good mind to clap my ten scratchers on his cheeks, and mark him as a fool for life.

3. (US Und.) a forger, a counterfeiter.

1911		Hawaiian Star (Honolulu) 13 May 18/2: Them high-class thieves and scratchers — that’s a forger — why, they wouldn’t think of touchin’ nawthin’ small.
1950		P. Hoskins No Hiding Place! 192/1: Scratcher. A forger.

4. a match [prison use only by 1950s].

1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1950		P. Tempest Lag’s Lex. 184: scratcher. A match. ‘Got a scratcher?’ = have you a match?

5. (US Und.) a writer of begging letters.

1903

N.-Y. Trib. 10 May B1: Here is the account of the entries in the cash book of one Taylor, known to the profession as a ‘scratcher’ — that is, a writer of begging letters.

6. (Irish/Scot.) a bed.

1958		C. Lee diary 21 Mar. in Eight Bells & Top Masts (2001) 90: The Second Mate’s always in his scratcher. I think he’s trying to sleep through the whole voyage.
1959		(con. 1940s) G. Slatter Gun in My Hand 92: Mick efficiently putting me to bed in my blankets [...] Get into the scratcher. Come on now. Have a snore off.
1964		R. Helmer Stag Party 57: ‘Right in his own sleeping bag?’ ‘Right in his own scratcher.’.
1979		J. Morrow Confessions of Proinsias O’Toole 9: Away home to your scratcher.
1991		R. Doyle Van (1998) 510: Are yeh like tha’ in the scratcher? he said.
2000		I. Rankin Set in Darkness 305: As soon as a bloke claps eyes on a woman, first thing he wonders is what she’d be like in the scratcher.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 335: Now we have time off and ah want tae hit ma scratcher.

7. (US) a writer, a journalist.

1907		Sun (NY) 18 Oct. 11/2: All o’ you scratchers knockin’ me all the time like as if I was a porch climber.
1968		‘Hy Lit’ Hy Lit’s Unbelievable Dict. of Hip Words 34: (a) scratcher – A reporter, a writer.

8. (Irish/US) a lottery scratch-card.

2012

J. Shaw ‘Luck’ in ThugLit Sept./Oct. [ebook] ‘The beer, the cookies, and one of them scratchers’.

9. (Irish) a chequebook.

2021

Breen & Conlon Hitmen 230: ‘I had me scratcher on me. . . 150 poxy euros into the court poor box ’.