scratch the surface
Verb
Meaning
scratch the surface (third-person singular simple present scratches the surface, present participle scratching the surface, simple past and past participle scratched the surface)
(idiomatic) To barely begin; to see or do only a fraction of what is possible.
This beginners' course only scratches the surface of the subject.
Examples
Scratch the surface of most cynics and you find a frustrated idealist - someone who made the mistake of converting his ideals into expectations.
I'm just starting to scratch the surface of what really makes me happy and it's taken me a while to admit that acting like a little child and being a jerk and a punk is fun.
Either that boy is the sanest creature on Earth, he thought, or he is so disturbed that our tests cannot even begin to scratch the surface.
After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate.
The truth is, I need 10 lifetimes to scratch the surface of the things I'd love to do.
The U.S. Army records alone for World War II weigh 17,000 tons, and even the best historians have not done more than just scratch the surface. The story is such that 500 years from now people will be writing and reading about it.