An Americanism dating back to 1865–70; of uncertain origin
First recorded in 1925–30; of uncertain origin
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
First recorded in 1945–50; of uncertain origin; compare earlier scat (slang) “whiskey”
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse skattr “tax, treasure”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead he looks for scat and footprints, which were harder to spot in the winter because of the frozen ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
“And there’s lots of coyote scat — they’re just marauding around. The lizards are back and some of my roses survived.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 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
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
The animals were gone by the time the biologist arrived, but he found some fresh scat, which he dutifully bagged up and dispatched to a U.S.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
“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
On “Bebop,” by his mentor Dizzy Gillespie, El’Zabar scatted the melody along with the horns.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 17, 2022
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
One distinguishing feature of hunger I already knew was persistence: I, too, whenever I felt hungry, always returned to the source of food whenever I was scatted.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
By rephrasing melodies, throwing in slang, using nonsense syllables, embracing scatting, and making it seem as if he was speaking directly to you, he changed the way people sang and thought about vocal performances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
“It doesn’t really make sense. You just have to kind of follow the sound. I still remember the reception that I got from it. Angela Jackson said, ‘You’re scatting on the page.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
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
“Ancestral Duckets” is a sly waltz that roams purposefully through chromatic chord changes and sprouts a multitude of Muldrow’s vocals: harmonizing, scatting, riffing, taking over the melody and then playfully sailing above it.
From New York Times ● Aug. 28, 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
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.
