scrabble
verb (used with object)
to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.
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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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"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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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
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
"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
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
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
PAWTUCKET, R.I.—The maker of Candyland, Monopoly and Scrabble has a new board game on its hands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Did the kids want to read books or play Scrabble with their parents all afternoon?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
“It’s Lexie. I rescued your plant again. Are you up for a game of Scrabble today?”
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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 back, then starts sniffing at some bushes like there ain’t nothing unusual going on in the world.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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
Self-made billionaires, Duan and Shum included, scrabbled to the top, greasing palms along the way.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2021
He scrabbled with all four paws, found some purchase, and scarpered up the slope and away.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2021
"Doctors scrabbled to do the most urgent of surgeries, portering, scrubbing the floors, working with one or two remaining nursing staff. Matrons were washing linen," one doctor wrote by email.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2020
Full of fear, he paddled and struggled, got his head up and took a breath, scrabbled his claws against rough bricks underwater and lost them again as he was dragged on.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
"There just isn't enough guidance for businesses, we're scrabbling around in the dark trying to do our best," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Europe’s scrabbling together of funds to put into the pot is important here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
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
There he knelt and began scrabbling with one hand in the soft dirt.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
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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.
