scrape the bottom of the barrel en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Derived from the historical practice in the early European history of storing food in barrels; when food supplies ran low, only what was on the very bottom of the barrel remained, and had to be removed by scraping. Oil in a barrel has different fractions with a different weight. The heavier fractions like asphaltum sink to the bottom of the barrel and can be difficult to scrape from the bottom.
Meanings
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(idiomatic, informal) To settle for a poor option due to a lack or unavailability of anything more favorable.
We have so few ships that are mission—ready, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. We are to the point where three damaged ships are being stripped to make one flyable ship.
2004, Ronald Carey, The War Above the Trees, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN, page 259:They must really have been scraping the bottom of the barrel if they couldn't find a better design than that.
The bottom of the barrel was scraped on August 22 when Shrewsbury had to produce Taunton 2-6-0 No. 6312 to work the 8.10 p.m. from Paddington between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury; the stranger was in trouble in the early hours of the next morning at Hollinswood, but managed to reach Shrewsbury.
1961 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: Western Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 635:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| scraped the bottom of the barrel | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| scraped the bottom of the barrel | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| scraping the bottom of the barrel | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| scrapes the bottom of the barrel | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (11)
ru скрести по сусекам (Translations) · cy crafu gwaelod y gasgen (Translations) · pl zadowalać się byle czym (Translations) · pl brać, co jest pod ręką (Translations) · fi kaapia laarin pohjia (Translations) · fi tyytyä rippeisiin (Translations) · kw kravas goles an balyer (Translations) · lb alles zesummekrazen (Translations) · pl wziąć, co jest pod ręką (Translations) · pl zadowolić się byle czym (Translations) · de den letzten Rest zusammenkratzen (Translations)