scratching

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of scratch

noun

1. The act or sound of something being scratched.
   We heard further scratchings at the door as the dog whined to be let in.
   It was early on the fifteenth day that I heard a curious familiar sequence of sounds in the kitchen, and, listening, identified it as the snuffing and scratching of a dog. 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 236
2. A pork scratching.
   'Ugggghhhhh!' she made a face at the packet. 'Oink, oink!' Cosmo laughed, waving a scratching near her face. 2010, Monique Roffey, Sun Dog
3. Record scratching, a technique of starting and stopping a vinyl record from playing to produce music in hip hop.