scrabble
verb (used with object)
to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.
scrabble
1 American
[skrab-uhl]
/ ˈskræb əl /
verb (used with object)
-
scrabbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scrabbled,
past participle, past
-
scrabbling
present participle
-
to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.
-
to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands.
-
to scrawl; scribble.
verb (used without object)
-
scrabbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scrabbled,
past participle, past
-
scrabbling
present participle
-
to scratch or dig frantically with the hands; claw (often followed byat ).
scrabbling at a locked door to escape the flames.
-
to jostle or struggle for possession of something; grab or collect something in a disorderly way; scramble.
noun
-
scrabbles
plural
-
a scratching or scraping, as with the claws or hands.
-
a scrawled or scribbled writing.
-
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.
scrabble
1
British
/ ˈskræbəl /
verb
-
(intr; often foll by about or at) to scrape (at) or grope (for), as with hands or claws
-
to struggle (with)
-
to struggle to gain possession, esp in a disorderly manner
-
to scribble
noun
-
the act or an instance of scrabbling
-
a scribble
-
a disorderly struggle
Scrabble
2
British
/ ˈskræbəl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scrabblesimple
-
scrabblessimple
-
have scrabbledperfect
-
has scrabbledperfect
-
am scrabblingprogressive
-
are scrabblingprogressive
-
is scrabblingprogressive
-
have been scrabblingperfect progressive
-
has been scrabblingperfect progressive
Past
-
scrabbledsimple
-
had scrabbledperfect
-
was scrabblingprogressive
-
were scrabblingprogressive
-
had been scrabblingperfect progressive
Future
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."
Vocabulary lists containing scrabble
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A group of people scrabble on the ground, sifting through the soil.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025
Lee wanted wealth and stability, not to scrabble around in obscurity hoping to beat impossibly long odds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
"If they leave, either the jobs disappear entirely, or factories scrabble to receive orders from footloose buying agents who care only about cheap labour and do not worry about factory conditions," Bowman told Reuters.
From Reuters ● Aug. 16, 2023
“Imagine you have scrabble tiles that spell out ‘Powerball.’
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
I scrabble for the device, then back out of the room and pull the door all the way shut behind me, panting.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
The first three were high-end versions of Monopoly, Scrabble and Clue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
An ode to the ecstasy of Scrabble: Do you love hearing someone talk about something they’re really passionate about and know very well, in great intimate detail?
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
I will not walk on a beach with you, but I will play Scrabble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
And he is fond of the original Scrabble - his European parents are "big fans of the game: when they first started dating, they used it to teach each other English", he explains.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024
When my eyes open in the morning, the first thing I do is sit up and look at the Scrabble tiles.
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
She scrabbles to find her reason for being.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2023
But in one instance, a dog uses Halle Berry’s back as a springboard, then scrabbles up the wall to the second story and attacks a gunman on a balcony.
From Slate ● May 16, 2019
As his wife scrabbles with angry protesters and gripes about her compromised marriage, he is sequestered in the bathroom, represented only by a mordant song that his aide-de-camp sings on his behalf:
From The New Yorker ● May 9, 2016
Some have suggested Mr Cameron is a study in "government by essay crisis" - like a student who suddenly realises work is urgently overdue, and scrabbles to put something brilliant together at the last moment.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2014
He scrabbles as he falls and grabs the back of the wooden chair.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
As she scrabbled for a laser pointer in her large handbag, her coloratura was comically on point, though she was inaudible in her middle range during the cabaletta.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025
Her rivals cantered on as she scrabbled on the floor.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2022
Self-made billionaires, Duan and Shum included, scrabbled to the top, greasing palms along the way.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2021
A dog’s scrabbled paw prints, a bobcat at best.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2018
Birds soared and swooped, screeched and fished; iguanas and lizards scrabbled; sea lions lazed and their king’s honk! echoed across the water.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Europe’s scrabbling together of funds to put into the pot is important here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
She said that smaller firms would be left "scrabbling to make sense" of the changes and called for a full consultation on each individual measure.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2024
This is, though, where much of Europe has been for some time: scrabbling around for scraps from the Premier League’s table.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
When few other animals are out and about, wolverines are scrabbling up frozen slopes with their crampon-like claws and crunching through frozen bones of carrion dug out of snow.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
He raced back up the slope, scrabbling over low stone walls, and pelted through the sheepfold, past the garden and through the cloister, still gripping his apple branch swords.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
