scrabble
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.
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to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands.
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to scrawl; scribble.
verb (used without object)
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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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a scratching or scraping, as with the claws or hands.
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a scrawled or scribbled writing.
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a disorderly struggle for possession of something; scramble.
After the fumble, there was a scrabble for the football.
verb
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(intr; often foll by about or at) to scrape (at) or grope (for), as with hands or claws
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to struggle (with)
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to struggle to gain possession, esp in a disorderly manner
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to scribble
noun
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the act or an instance of scrabbling
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a scribble
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a disorderly struggle
noun
Other Word Forms
- Scrabbler noun
- scrabbler noun
Etymology
Origin of scrabble
1530–40; < Dutch schrabbelen to scratch, frequentative of schrabben to scrape
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.
Lee wanted wealth and stability, not to scrabble around in obscurity hoping to beat impossibly long odds.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 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 scrabble around in my bag for a scrap of paper.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
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.
