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.
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to jostle or struggle for possession of something; grab or collect something in a disorderly way; scramble.
noun
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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
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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
Fahrenheit 451
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"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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The Hobbit
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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:
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
One visitor quipped "someone's been playing scrabble by the look of it".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
“Imagine you have scrabble tiles that spell out ‘Powerball.’
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 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
I swing toward the cliff face and scrabble for a handhold.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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
He was a bit better than me at the end, so I decided to propose a different game - Scrabble.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
I will not walk on a beach with you, but I will play Scrabble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Did the kids want to read books or play Scrabble with their parents all afternoon?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
The x makes this an excellent word for Scrabble.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
At the novel’s outset, Ezra scrabbles through his world with honest hunger and understandable, if sometimes pedantic, disdain for those with more than him.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2023
Such scrums and scrabbles can be found around England on Shrove Tuesday, from Corfe Castle in Dorset to Alnwick in Northumberland via Ashbourne in Derbyshire and Atherstone in Warwickshire.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2020
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
In the meantime, Queenie breaks free and scrabbles up the hill.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
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
In the second half, Roper hit the ball into the bottom-right corner on the run, before he scrabbled to get the ball across the line to put England 5-3 up.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2022
He scrabbled with all four paws, found some purchase, and scarpered up the slope and away.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2021
Using picks, shovels and hands, they scrabbled through the dust and debris of crumbled homes.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2016
The hand, running high on its fingertips, scrabbled through the tall grass and up onto a tree stump.
From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
Imagine combat choreographed by ants, swarms of elbows and legs scrabbling to emerge victorious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
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
He wrote hurriedly, in scrabbling handwriting: When I saw her in the light she was quite an old woman, fifty years old at least.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
