start from scratch

idiom

: to begin from a point at which nothing has been done yet

Nothing like this had ever been done before, so we had to start from scratch.

Examples of start from scratch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Though the amendment process is difficult, the passage of 27 amendments since 1787 shows, for the most part, how the Constitution might be incrementally improved, through consensus-building, without having to start from scratch. —

Charles Arrowsmith, Washington Post, 4 July 2024 Any other candidate would likely have to start from scratch. —

Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 28 June 2024 The TikTok app runs on roughly 2 billion lines of code written and maintained by more than 4,000 software engineers, the company has said; a new buyer would largely need to start from scratch. —

Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 20 June 2024 That process was complicated by the departure of one of the jurors on day six, which meant the jury had to start from scratch with an alternate seated. —

John Annese, New York Daily News, 18 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for start from scratch

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'start from scratch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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“Start from scratch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/start%20from%20scratch. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.

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