scratch at

scratch at (something)

To scratch something continuously or a great deal. You need to stop scratching at that scab, or you're going to leave a scar! The dog scratched at the door, whining to be let out into the back yard.
See also: scratch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

scratch at something

to scratch something. You shouldn't scratch at a chigger bite because it might get infected. Don't scratch at it!
See also: scratch
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • scratch at (something)
  • want out
  • scar over
  • want in
  • scratch up
  • scratch away at (something)
  • enclose
  • enclose (someone or something) (with)in (something)
  • enclose in
  • encase in
References in periodicals archive
To put things into perspective, plastic scratches at level 3, tempered glass at level 6, whereas sapphire and diamond screens scratch at level 8 and 10 respectively.
Huawei P20 Pro passes scratch and burn test but fails in bend test
Harnessing Scratch at the heart of the pipeline for the movie, Company 3 established a set-to-post workflow that travelled with the production team as it moved between locations in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico and the stages at Pinewood Studios, UK.
Post production of movie starts from Scratch
Using the newly constructed light scattering instrument at NIST, optical scattering measurements on a single scratch at various scattering geometries collecting both the specular and nonspecular intensities were conducted.
Metrology for characterizing scratch resistance of polymer coatings
Fine cracks extend from both sides of the scratch at an angle of about 30[degrees] to the scratch in specimen T3 (Fig.
The plastically deformed matrix also contains parabolic marks with fine cracks extending from both sides of the scratch at an angle of about 30[degrees] to the scratch (Fig.
Scratch Resistance of Mineral-Filled Polypropylene Materials