Translation guide
The English word "scraps" can refer to leftover pieces of food, discarded materials, or small remnants. This guide covers natural Japanese expressions for these meanings, from everyday leftovers to industrial waste.
Referring to uneaten food remaining after a meal, often for disposal or reuse.
Common word for leftover food, often implying it will be thrown away or fed to animals. Can sound slightly negative.
Small pieces of material left over from cutting or manufacturing, such as fabric, paper, or metal.
Tiny leftover pieces of something, often scattered or insignificant.
Fragments or small pieces of a broken object; can be used figuratively.
For 'scrap paper' (paper for notes), use メモ用紙 (memo youshi) or 裏紙 (uragami, reused paper). 切れ端 implies small cut pieces, not a pad of paper.
残飯をゴミ箱に捨てた。
I threw the scraps in the trash.
Literally 'eating leftovers', a neutral term for food left uneaten on a plate.
I clean up the kids' scraps.
Refers to kitchen waste, including food scraps, often in the context of garbage disposal.
Please throw out the food scraps every day.
General term for offcuts or snippets of cloth, paper, wood, etc.
I make a patchwork from fabric scraps.
Often used in woodworking or construction for leftover pieces of material.
I built a bookshelf using scraps of wood.
Waste, scraps, or refuse; can be used for worthless remnants. Often in compounds.
I take the metal scraps out for recycling.
There are scraps of glass on the floor.
Leftovers or remnants of anything, not just food. Can be used for scraps of material or time.
I make dolls from scraps of cloth.