from scratch

From the scratch drawn in the ground serving as the starting line of a foot race. A runner “starting from scratch” received no handicap, but started at the beginning of the course.

• "There were so many errors in the program that the programmer decided to rewrite it from scratch."
• "When the writer finished writing his book, it was stolen and now he has to rewrite it from scratch."
• "He had no money and no rich friends, so he had to build his business from scratch."
• "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
• "The Government's most ambitious plan is to create a software industry almost from scratch. Encouraged by the success of a technology park in Hsinchu, near Taipei, planners are investing millions of dollars in a software park in Nankang, also near Taipei, to open in about three years."
• "The advantages are that you may be able to build your services more quickly because you would not be starting from scratch, and you would proved a very friendly experience for your users, potentially eliminating or at least decreasing a variety of status inquiries and the possibility of missubmitting requests."
• "She said she wanted to build a new house from scratch."
• "He was out of pancake mix so he had to make the batter from scratch."
• "He sat there Friday night and built an entire model ship from scratch."
• ""By having a research and design facility in north Derbyshire, we will once again build trains from scratch on our shores.""

• the ground up
• scratch-built
• scratch made