start from scratch
phrase
: to begin from a point at which nothing has been done yet
Nothing like this had ever been done before, so we had to start from scratch.
Examples of start from scratch in a Sentence
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Pretty much nothing has gone right for Buster Posey and the Giants this year, and it’s gone wrong enough to wonder if San Francisco needs to start from scratch.
—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
1 July 2026
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Tim Britton,
New York Times,
1 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for start from scratch
Cite this Entry
“Start from scratch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/start%20from%20scratch. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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