Meaning & use
healthy scratch
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablesportAmericaninformal
A player who is not injured but is left out of a game by the coach's decision.
Grammar: Often follows a form of be or become: he was a healthy scratch.
Patterns
- be a healthy scratch
- make someone a healthy scratch
The veteran forward was a healthy scratch for the third game in a row.
Being a healthy scratch bothered him more than any injury.
The coach made two defenders healthy scratches after the loss.
nouncountablesportinformal
The decision to leave a fit player out of the lineup, either as punishment or for tactical reasons.
Grammar: Often used with the verb sit or the preposition as: he sat as a healthy scratch.
Patterns
- sit as a healthy scratch
Fans wondered why the star was benched as a healthy scratch.
A healthy scratch can send a message to the whole team.
Word forms
| plural | healthy scratches |
|---|
Common combinations
- be a healthy scratch
- The rookie was a healthy scratch on opening night.
- make someone a healthy scratch
- The coach made him a healthy scratch for missing practice.
- healthy scratch list
- His name was on the healthy scratch list again.
- sit as a healthy scratch
- She sat as a healthy scratch while the others played.
Synonyms and how they differ
- benched
- Benched is more general; it can describe a player removed during a game, while a healthy scratch is out of the entire game's lineup.
- dropped
- Dropped is the usual British term for a player left out of a squad, and carries less of the 'was fit' implication.
- scratch
- On its own, scratch simply means withdrawn from a game and does not tell you whether injury was the reason.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
Why is a player called a healthy scratch?
Choose one answer.
A healthy scratch is physically fit but not selected. An injured player is not 'healthy', and replacing someone during the game is a different thing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “healthy scratch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.