scrabble

¹ American  

[skrab-uhl] / ˈskræb əl /

verb (used with object)

scrabbled, scrabbling

1. to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.

2. to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands.

3. to scrawl; scribble.

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verb (used without object)

scrabbled, scrabbling

1. to scratch or dig frantically with the hands; claw (often followed byat ).

   scrabbling at a locked door to escape the flames.

2. to jostle or struggle for possession of something; grab or collect something in a disorderly way; scramble.

noun

1. a scratching or scraping, as with the claws or hands.

2. a scrawled or scribbled writing.

3. a disorderly struggle for possession of something; scramble.

   After the fumble, there was a scrabble for the football.

Scrabble ² American  

[skrab-uhl] / ˈskræb əl /

Trademark.

1. a brand name for a game combining anagrams and crosswords in which two to four players use counters of various point values to form words on a playing board.

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scrabble ¹ British  

/ ˈskræbəl /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by about or at) to scrape (at) or grope (for), as with hands or claws

2. to struggle (with)

3. to struggle to gain possession, esp in a disorderly manner

4. to scribble

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noun

1. the act or an instance of scrabbling

2. a scribble

3. a disorderly struggle

Scrabble ² British  

/ ˈskræbəl /

noun

1. a board game in which words are formed by placing lettered tiles in a pattern similar to a crossword puzzle

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Other Word Forms

• Scrabbler noun
• scrabbler noun

Etymology

Origin of scrabble

1530–40; < Dutch schrabbelen to scratch, frequentative of schrabben to scrape

Explanation

To scrabble is to grasp or grope. If you lose your footing while rock climbing, you'll scrabble around with your fingers for a ledge to hang onto. The verb scrabble means to scratch or grab with your hands, the way you might search for something in a dark room or clutch at something frantically as you drop it. Scrabble also describes an animal's movements, like the sound of a squirrel that scrabbles, or scurries, out of your garbage can. Scrabble is also the name of a board game that involves making words out of letter tiles. Scrabble comes from the Dutch schrabben, "to scratch."

Example Sentences

It might not be up to John Cena standards, but she’s clearly figured at least a few things out along her scrabble to undeniable stardom.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2024

Don’t just rely on your phone’s memory; you might not be the one making the phone call and it saves time not to have to scrabble around.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2023

Like my parents and many others I knew in the South Bronx, they scrabble to hang on and perhaps wonder if anyone sees or hears their distress.

From Salon • Jul. 9, 2023

Speaking to Newsbeat down the coast from Dundee at Edinburgh's Portobello Beach, she says there's been "this sort of scrabble for the next big personality".

From BBC • May 30, 2023

The heroism and glamour might be there somewhere, but you had to dig and scrape and scrabble through the dirt, pain, and misery to find it.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Related Words

• clamber
• creep
• drag
• inch
• plod
• poke
• slide
• slither
• squirm
• wriggle