Light injuries where skin is rubbed off, or situations where someone narrowly escapes trouble; can also mean to remove something by rubbing with a sharp object.
From Old Norse 'skrapa,' meaning to scratch or scrape. The word has maintained its basic meaning of removing surface material for centuries, and the figurative sense of 'narrow escape' developed because you're barely avoiding harm, like just scraping by.
We use 'scrapes' for both minor injuries AND tricky situations because both involve that edge between safety and danger—you're right on the surface between being okay and being hurt, which is why people in trouble are in 'scrapes.'
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