Wiktionary
alt. paper used for preliminary work on a (for example mathematics) problem, considered ephemeral. n. paper used for preliminary work on a (for example mathematics) problem, considered ephemeral.
WordNet
n. pad for preliminary or hasty writing or notes or sketches etc; "scribbling block" is a British term [syn: scratch pad, scribbling block]
Usage examples of "scratch paper".
They would have to encrypt the message by hand--doing all of the calculations on sheets of scratch paper.
He drew out a crumpled sheet of yellow scratch paper of the kind on which Salveter's Egyptian exercise had been written, and after one glance at it thrust it into his own pocket.
The board was always jammed, and Sister had walked along it the day before, looking at the pleas scribbled on scratch paper: &ldquo.
At first she did not knowstates led to other states, and so she wandered aimlessly fromstate to the next, recording the connections on scratch paper.
At first she did not know which states led to other states, and so she wandered aimlessly from one state to the next, recording the connections on scratch paper.
He remembered being surrounded by nautical almanacs, sight-reduction tables, scratch paper, charts and parallel rules.
So this fellow keeps a pad of scratch paper by the desk, and when a car drives in, there's a powerful light shining on the car from the porch of the office.