Scratch the two first letters out, dear (6)
I believe the answer is:
abrade
'scratch' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'two first letters out dear' is the wordplay.
'two first letters' becomes 'ab' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'out' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dear' with letters rearranged gives 'rade'.
'ab'+'rade'='ABRADE'
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abrade that I've seen before include "Wear away by friction" , "Day breaks? > Start as before" , "Scrape away, erode" , "Chafe" , "Shave" .)