chicken scratch

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

chicken scratch (countable and uncountable, plural chicken scratches)

1. Chicken feed consisting of random mixed grains such as corn, wheat, barley, sorghum and milling by-products.
   • 2008, Richard Dwight Apgar, Tough Shit, Eliot: A Yank's Tale, Dorrance Publishing, →ISBN, page 1:

     A soft odor of chicken scratch, mash, and manure always permeated the air when you approached. Attached to the chicken coop was a smokehouse that contained several smoked ham shoulders hanging from hooks.

2. (informal, idiomatic) Cramped or illegible handwriting.

   Synonym: scrawl

   • 2014, A. Meredith Walters, Light in the Shadows, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 25:

     The pencil in my hand was limp between my fingers and I couldn't focus on the chicken scratch on the pages. My breathing had become shallow and my heart was racing. I was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.

3. A type of cross-stitch embroidery done on gingham fabric.

   Synonym: Amish embroidery

Translations

informal: illegible handwriting

• Danish: kragetæer c pl
• Dutch: hanenpoten (nl)
• Finnish: harakanvarpaat (fi) pl
• French: pattes de mouche (fr) f pl, hiéroglyphes (fr) m pl,griffonnage (fr) m
• German: Sauklaue (de) f, Krähenfüße (de) m pl
• Greek: ορνιθοσκαλίσματα (el) n pl (ornithoskalísmata)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: pisanie jak kura pazurem n
• Portuguese: garrancho (pt) m
• Russian: кара́кули (ru) f pl (karákuli), как ку́рица лапой (ru) (kak kúrica lapoj)
• Spanish: garrapato m, garambainas f pl
• Ukrainian: кара́кулі f pl (karákuli), як ку́рка ла́пою (jak kúrka lápoju)
• Vietnamese: chữ như gà bới