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.
“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
Researchers at UC Davis found cattle DNA in 72% of wolf scat samples collected in the summers of 2022 and 2023.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 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
It didn’t even take that much time for me to scat back home and jump into my bedroom window.
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
“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
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
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
Across the table from each other in a jail’s visiting room, the brothers are scatting, their vocal jam making sweet jazz in a cold, hard space where instruments are not allowed.
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2019
Okay, but after that, I'm scatting on the world, like a scoobidee doo day deeeee.
From "Sunny" by Jason Reynolds
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.
