Meaning
To scratch.
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
From Middle English cratchen, cracchen (“to scratch”), alteration of *cratsen (“to scratch”), from Old Norse *kratsa or Middle Low German kratsen, krassen (“to scratch”), both ultimately from Old High German krazzōn, crazōn (“to scratch”), from Proto-Germanic *krattōną (“to scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gred-, *grod- (“to scratch, scrape”). Cognate with Icelandic krota (“to engrave”). Compare also Icelandic krassa (“to scrawl”), Danish kradse (“to scratch, scrape, claw”), Swedish kratsa (“to scratch”), Dutch kratsen (“to scratch”), German kratzen (“to scratch”), and Albanian gërresë (“rasp, scraper”).
NYT Puzzle Appearances
No published puzzle dates on file for this word yet. It is part of the official NYT Spelling Bee word list for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026.