racler

Racler is a French verb that primarily means to remove material from a surface by scraping, to scratch off, or to drag a rough edge across something. It covers physical actions such as scraping paint, ice, or dirt, and it also extends to figurative uses, like scraping by to obtain money or resources. The term is versatile across everyday tasks and more technical contexts.

The verb originates from Old French racler and is a regular -er verb. In the present tense the forms are: je racle, tu racle, il racle; nous raclons; vous raclez; ils raclent. The passé composé uses the auxiliary avoir and the past participle raclé: j'ai raclé. The imperfect forms are raclais, raclait, raclions, racliez, raclaient. The future tense includes raclerai, racleras, raclera, raclerons, raclerez, racleront.

Usage examples include physical cleaning or preparation, such as « Il a raclé la peinture du mur » meaning he scraped the paint off the wall. In the kitchen or household, one might say « racler le bol » to indicate scraping out the last bit of contents. Figuratively, the expression « racler des fonds » conveys scraping together funds with effort. In technical fields, raclage can refer to the scraping operation performed to achieve a precise surface finish, often using a dedicated scraper or instrument.

See also: gratter, which can be used similarly for rough surfaces or material removal; raclage, the act of scraping.