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start from scratch

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start from scratch

to start from the very beginning; to start from nothing. Whenever I bake a cake, I start from scratch. I never use a cake mix in a box. I built every bit of my own house. I started from scratch and did everything with my own hands.

See also: scratch, start

start from scratch

Start at the beginning with no advantage. The scratch line was a stripe across the ground where a race began. Starting from scratch meant having no advantage against others in the race where handicaps allowed some entrants shorter distances to run.

See also: scratch, start