from scratch

phrase

1

: from a point at which nothing has been done ahead of time

build a school system from scratch

2

: without using a prepared mixture of ingredients

bake a cake from scratch

Examples of from scratch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Throughout the program’s 11 years, students have worked on four houses, remodeling two and building two from scratch in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 25 Sep. 2026

The bank reasons that changing technical skills can be taught, while capabilities such as critical thinking are harder to build from scratch. — Lindsay Dodgson, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2026

Someone who has scaled from $20 million to $100 million but is still excited to build from scratch. — Jamie Savage, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

Sure, there’s something romantic about making absolutely everything from scratch. — Julia Black, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for from scratch

• attach
• bycatch
• despatch
• detach
• dispatch
• mismatch
• nuthatch
• potlatch
• bache
• batch
• brach
• catch