hen-scratchv.
/ˈhɛnskratʃ/, U.S. /ˈhɛnˌskrætʃ/, Australian English /ˈhenskrætʃ/, New Zealand English /ˈhenskrɛtʃ/ North American, Australian, and New Zealand slang. Now somewhat rare.
transitive. To dig (the ground, land, etc.) in a cursory manner and to insufficient depth, esp. in ploughing, mining, or prospecting for minerals. Also intransitive: to dig superficially in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > plough (land) [verb (transitive)] > plough lightly
shoal1670
scratch1697
stirree1742
skirtc1795
skim1799
riffle1804
skim-plough1807
hen-scratch1872
scratch-plough1926
1872 Public Ledger (Memphis, Tennessee) 9 Apr. There is no use hen-scratching the rugged hill-sides of the ‘State of Franklin’, when here along the Cumberland bottoms you have but to tickle the soil with a hoe to make it laugh a harvest.
1887 V. Pyke Hist. Early Gold Discov. Otago 35 Peter was only hen-scratching on the edges of the creek.
1901 N.Z. Herald 17 Apr. 3/2 The country is a vast one, and containing untold wealth. It has only been, practically, hen-scratched, and nothing approaching serious prospecting has been accomplished.
1950 Canad. Transportation July 399/1 Asked if he thought we had found all our gold, he replied: ‘Hell, this country ain't even been hen-scratched yet.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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