英语词汇start from scratch的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

词汇	start from scratch
词源	start from scratch. Unlike come up to scratch, which probably derives from prize-fighting, this was originally a horse-racing expression. A scratch in England was the starting line in a horse race and horses started there with no advantage besides their own ability, like anyone who starts from scratch in any undertaking. In this sense a scratch race is a race without restrictions as to the age, weight, and winnings of the horses entered.
随便看	a rubber-nosed woodpecker in a petrified forest asafetida bag asap a scarborough warning ascham as cold as charity ascot as deaf as the mainmast as different as chalk and cheese as drunk as david-s sow as easy as shaking the drops off your john a serpent in one-s bosom as every schoolboy knows a shag on a rock ashes a shrimp short of a barbie asiatic hordes ask a silly question and you’ll get a silly answer ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country a slice off the old ham as long as grass grows and water runs as mad as ajax as maine goes so goes the nation a small cup of tea

英语词源词典收录了13259条英语词源词条，基本涵盖了全部常用英语词汇的起源、历史，是研究英语词汇或通过词源学英语的必备工具。