scritchyint.adj.
/ˈskrɪtʃi/, U.S. /ˈskrɪtʃi/ Originally U.S. Usually in reduplicative combination with other similar onomatopoeic words, as scritch, scratch, scratchy, etc., suggesting a succession of identical or similar sounds.
A. int.
Representing a scratching or scraping sound. Cf. scritch int.
ΚΠ
1890 St. Nicholas Feb. 358 Scritchy-scratchy, out of sight One and another goes.
1922 Boston Daily Globe 24 July 13/1 Scritchy, scritchy, scratch! Rip, rip, rip!
1963 B. Appel Time of Fortune viii. 306 Wagon wheels went scritchy-scritch like Papa's matches.
1990 S. King Moving Finger in Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Dec. 9 Scratch, scratch, scritchy-scratch. A very small sound.
2013 S. W. If Only I had Told 311 His screaming makes them stay in their holes, but when he stops for breath, I can hear them, scritchy scritchy.
B. adj.
1. Scratchy, itchy, prickly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > irritating > itching
pruriginous?a1425
yukinga1449
itchful1530
itchy1530
itching1665
yuky1719
prurient1796
scritchy1929
scratchy1943
1929 Jefferson City (Missouri) Post-Tribune 5 Apr. 7/1 Those little teeth that are growing loose and ‘scritchy’ are tender and annoying.
1967 Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 23 Apr. 12/6 [She] refused to sit down..‘because the cushion..is scritchy-scratchy’.
1990 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 30 Dec. d8/5 It tastes yukky and makes the roof of his mouth scritchy.
2002 St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press (Nexis) 11 Aug. 1 b [He] kept complaining that weeds under the dock are ‘too scritchy’.
2016 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 16 July 17 Judging from the way he's rocking that scritchy woollen sweater and waders combo, he's a natural.
2. Of a sound: scratching, scraping.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > harsh or discordant quality > [adjective] > scratching or scraping
raspish1847
scraping1879
scratchy1889
scrapy1890
scritchy1951
1951 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 8 Sept. 51/1 The knife makes a ‘scritchy’ sound, as though it were slicing into a sandbag.
1963 M. Hankey James Hewat McKenzie iv. 40 When getting back into the car, there was a scritchy noise, and the glasses were crushed!
1997 New Republic (Electronic ed.) 3 Feb. He kept scratching his fingers on the white tablecloth, making little scritchy-scritchy noises.
2008 Times (Nexis) 16 June 10 I will spend £20 on black felt-tip calligraphy-nibbed pens (the kind that make a satisfying scritchy, rat-like noise when you write).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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int.adj.1890