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.
to scratch or dig frantically with the hands; claw (often followed byat ).
scrabbling at a locked door to escape the flames.
to jostle or struggle for possession of something; grab or collect something in a disorderly way; scramble.
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.
(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
to scribble
the act or an instance of scrabbling
a scribble
a disorderly struggle
1530–40; < Dutch schrabbelen to scratch, frequentative of schrabben to scrape
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It was louder and closer; it was no longer a single belligerent hum glinting with accents of brass; it had diversified into a rolling scrabble of anger, holiday high spirits and sports crowd roar.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
One visitor quipped "someone's been playing scrabble by the look of it".
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2024
Don’t just rely on your phone’s memory; you might not be the one making the phone call and it saves time not to have to scrabble around.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
The policy spurs a scrabble for more hard currency.
From Reuters ● Aug. 3, 2023
I scrabble to my feet and go to the window, open it and lean right out, then with just the very tips of my toes on the ground, I cry out for help.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
I will not walk on a beach with you, but I will play Scrabble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
PAWTUCKET, R.I.—The maker of Candyland, Monopoly and Scrabble has a new board game on its hands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Scrabble is, for me, a game that is dusted off once a year at Christmas.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024
And while I am a distinctly unremarkable player, the joy of Scrabble has always been in the competition - the occasional wins stolen from the jaws of what seemed like inevitable defeat.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024
Brooklyn reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of Scrabble tiles, which she spread out on the table.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
He scrabbles over a few yards to try again.
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
She scrabbles to find her reason for being.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2023
So Pluto is doubly fitting for the doppelgänger who ascended from underground and scrabbles around on all fours.
From Slate ● Mar. 24, 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
“Someone who scrabbles her way through life. There’s no beauty in such labor.”
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
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
Some people tried to lock the beasts out as they scrabbled at the door.
From Washington Post ● May 26, 2021
He scrabbled with all four paws, found some purchase, and scarpered up the slope and away.
From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2021
Viserion’s claws scrabbled against the stones, and the huge chains rattled as he tried to make his way to her again.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Europe’s scrabbling together of funds to put into the pot is important here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
The change meant the UK had to "build out" relationships with allies around the world but also invest in the UK's own economy, Jones said, denying ministers were "scrabbling" for solutions.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2025
When few other animals are out and about, wolverines are scrabbling up frozen slopes with their crampon-like claws and crunching through frozen bones of carrion dug out of snow.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
Central to the story the Kroffts continued to tell is that they were a relatively small, independent company among Hollywood combines, and so were often scrabbling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
You could hear them scrambling around inside the metal pot, scrabbling up to escape the steam.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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.
