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• scat
  scat

  verb (used without object)

  to go off hastily (often used in the imperative).
• scat-
  scat-

  variant of scato- before a vowel.

scat

¹ American  

[skat] / skæt /

verb (used without object)

Informal.

scatted, scatting

1. to go off hastily (often used in the imperative).

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scat ² American  

[skat] / skæt /

verb (used without object)

scatted, scatting

1. to sing by making full or partial use of the technique of scat singing, in which the singer substitutes improvised nonsense syllables for the words of a song.

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noun

1. scat singing.

scat ³ American  

[skat] / skæt /

noun

1. the excrement of a wild animal.

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scat ⁴ American  

[skat] / skæt /

noun

Slang.

1. heroin.

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scat ⁵ American  

[skat] / skæt /

Or scatt

noun

1. (in the Shetland and Orkney Islands) a crown tax, as for use of common lands.

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scat- ⁶ American  

1. variant of scato- before a vowel.

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scat ¹ British  

/ skæt /

noun

1. a type of jazz singing characterized by improvised vocal sounds instead of words

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verb

1. (intr) to sing jazz in this way

scat ² British  

/ skæt /

verb

1. informal (intr; usually imperative) to go away in haste

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scat ³ British  

/ skæt /

noun

1. any marine and freshwater percoid fish of the Asian family Scatophagidae, esp Scatophagus argus, which has a beautiful coloration

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scat ⁴ British  

/ skæt /

noun

1. an animal dropping

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Etymology

Origin of scat¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; of uncertain origin

Origin of scat²

First recorded in 1925–30; of uncertain origin

Origin of scat³

First recorded in 1925–30; origin uncertain; compare British dialect (southwestern) scat “to scatter, fling down, bespatter”; Greek skat- (stem of skôr “dung”; see scato-) is an unlikely source, given popular character of the word and unmotivated derivation pattern

Origin of scat⁴

First recorded in 1945–50; of uncertain origin; compare earlier scat (slang) “whiskey”

Origin of scat⁵

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse skattr “tax, treasure”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scat scatted scatting

“But she’s not a scat singer. She improvises more in the technique of the Baroque period, expanding and contracting phrases or adding trills that deviate from the melody.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

Newly christened, she became known for scat singing, a vocal style that originated with ragtime - which enabled her to improvise melodies using her voice as an instrument.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2025

He took out his gun and burst into the house, where he was greeted by a giant pile of bear scat.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025

For music, the show has an original score by the veteran trombonist Craig Harris, played by a jazz band that includes three vocalists who do sometimes scat.

From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2024

Forget bird scat, I had other scat to look into.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

“I don’t know what happened,” Manley said, describing the improv session, “but I’m telling you, I blacked out and bee-bopped and scatted all over that room, like George Costanza would say.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025

Hancock sang identifiable words during “Come Running to Me,” but they were mutated by a vocoder, and most of the evening’s other vocals were scatted and altered.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2017

After they climbed off Parker, the Sparks scatted about the court. 

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2016

The beautiful public baths, just off Twenty-third Street on Asser Levy Place, across from Peter Cooper Village, are like a pun on the defeat of the rebel forces that scatted here, headed north.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 25, 2015

Coming out of the river bottoms, I scatted up a long hogback ridge, and broke out on top in the flats.

From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls

He plays it in a way that’s equal parts grunting and scatting and which, as Kirk biographer John Kruth has noted, was essentially adopted wholesale by rock star Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

His head tilted back while scatting, he holds a handkerchief to mop his forehead.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

It’s only three words, but it sends her into a tailspin of disbelief and exuberance — a sentiment Scherzinger expresses by sliding on furniture, scatting from atop a piano bench and singing while upside-down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2021

Scooby-Doo’s name came from Silverman, who had heard Frank Sinatra scatting “doo-be-doo-be-doo” on a recording of “Strangers in the Night,” and whose own name was used for Fred, the group’s ascot-wearing leader.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2020

We’ve been laying our voices down, catting and scatting, and following variations of the same notes for so long we didn’t always know we were doing it.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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