He pulled the trigger, but the bullet merely scratched his head.

Though my camera's full, I can't help feeling like I've merely scratched the surface.

This merely scratches the surface of choices in summer bulbs.

Prophet merely scratched an itch and said, "So what's your point?"

These interpretations merely scratch the surface of the card.

The Fox reports "merely scratches the surface" of apparent misconduct in government.

Sometimes it merely scratched; on occasion it took off limbs.

Or was it merely scratching itself against him?

It almost worked, but he was still stronger than I was and the point of the blade merely scratched his chest.

Its authors acknowledge that they have merely scratched the surface, because their subjects are highly mobile and wary of the authorities.