scratch the surface

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In my short lifespan, I probably won’t do more than scratch the surface of what an orchestra can do, but I’m working on it.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2025

The 13 films below only scratch the surface of Corman’s huge filmography, but they do provide a glimpse into his ambition and his sensibility as both a director and a micro studio boss.

From New York Times • May 12, 2024

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, said: "These fly-tipping figures barely scratch the surface of a crime that's blighting rural communities, with incidents on private land going unrecorded on a mass scale."

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2024

"Considering that the vast majority of reductases encoded by gut bacteria remain functionally uncharacterized, identified metabolisms may only scratch the surface of interactions between respiratory reductases and the gut metabolome," the study authors wrote.

From Salon • Jan. 5, 2024

Mateo says, which doesn’t really scratch the surface on who they are to me, but I let it slide because this is so wild even Mateo is tearing up for me.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera