Schrappen

Schrappen is a Dutch verb with two primary meanings. In its most common usage, schrappen means to cancel, remove, or strike out something from a list, plan, or text. It is widely employed in administrative, editorial, and planning contexts when items are deleted or proposals dropped. In a more literal sense, the word is historically linked to the verb schrapen, meaning to scrape; figuratively, the act of erasing or crossing out on a document is likened to scraping a surface, which explains the semantic extension from physical scraping to deletion.

Etymology and sense development: Schrappen derives from the root related to schrapen (“to scrape”) and has developed a figurative meaning that concerns erasing or removing elements rather than physical scraping. The development mirrors similar Germanic patterns where a literal action becomes a figurative operation in writing, editing, and record-keeping.

Usage and examples: Schrappen is used with objects such as afspraken (appointments), voorstellen (proposals), passages (sections of text), or items on a list. The correct inflected forms include the participle geschrapt. For example: De afspraak is geschrapt. The passage kan geschrapt worden. In editorial or administrative contexts, one may say that certain items are geschrapt from the agenda or the document.

Related terms: In Dutch, schrapen means to scrape a surface, and schrappen is the related term used for deleting or striking out. In other languages, equivalents include terms meaning “to strike out,” “to delete,” or “to remove.”