Definition of "scraper"

An instrument with which anything is scraped.

1. An instrument by which the soles of shoes are cleaned from mud by drawing them across it.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • and that in trying to scrape the mud off a very unsteady little shoe, he generally got his leg over the scraper.

     1874, John Forster (biographer), The Life of Charles Dickens‎, archived from the original on 20 December 2016

   • There is a scraper as well as a mat, and Mrs. Challenger is most particular.

     1929, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, When the World Screamed‎

2. An instrument drawn by oxen, horses or a tractor, similar to a plow, that is used for scraping up earth in making or repairing roads, digging cellars, building canals, etc.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • A scraper is a large scoop, mounted on pneumatic-tyre wheels, in which earth is collected by a steel cutting-blade at the front, and from which the earth is dumped wherever required. It is operated by the driver of the caterpillar tractor which hauls it.

     1943 September and October, “Railway Construction and Operation at War Department Depots”, in Railway Magazine, page 262

3. An instrument having two or three sharp sides or edges for cleaning the planks, masts, or decks of a ship.  examples

4. In the printing press, a board or blade, the edge of which is made to rub over the tympan sheet, thus producing an impression.  examples

5. A hoe.  examples

6. A tool used by engravers.  examples

7. (archaeology) A prehistoric unifacial tool thought to have been used for hideworking and woodworking.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Instead, they made finely crafted bone points to haft onto their spears, reserving the use of flint mostly for blades and scrapers.

     2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 218

8. Clipping of bellyscraper.  examples

One who scrapes horns.  examples

One who plays a violin incompetently, producing cacophonous sounds.  examples

One who acquires avariciously and saves penuriously.  examples

(archaic, colloquial) A cocked hat.

(computing) A program or process that scrapes data, such as a screen-scraper.  examples

A freshwater fish of the carp family, genus Capoeta.  examples