scrabble

¹ American  

[skrab-uhl] / ˈskræb əl /

verb (used with object)

scrabbled, scrabbling

1. to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands.

2. to grapple or struggle with or as if with the claws or hands.

3. to scrawl; scribble.

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verb (used without object)

scrabbled, scrabbling

1. to scratch or dig frantically with the hands; claw (often followed byat ).

   scrabbling at a locked door to escape the flames.

2. to jostle or struggle for possession of something; grab or collect something in a disorderly way; scramble.

noun

1. a scratching or scraping, as with the claws or hands.

2. a scrawled or scribbled writing.

3. a disorderly struggle for possession of something; scramble.

   After the fumble, there was a scrabble for the football.

Scrabble ² American  

[skrab-uhl] / ˈskræb əl /

Trademark.

1. a brand name for a game combining anagrams and crosswords in which two to four players use counters of various point values to form words on a playing board.

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scrabble ¹ British  

/ ˈskræbəl /

verb

1. (intr; often foll by about or at) to scrape (at) or grope (for), as with hands or claws

2. to struggle (with)

3. to struggle to gain possession, esp in a disorderly manner

4. to scribble

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noun

1. the act or an instance of scrabbling

2. a scribble

3. a disorderly struggle

Scrabble ² British  

/ ˈskræbəl /

noun

1. a board game in which words are formed by placing lettered tiles in a pattern similar to a crossword puzzle

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Other Word Forms

• Scrabbler noun
• scrabbler noun

Etymology

Origin of scrabble

1530–40; < Dutch schrabbelen to scratch, frequentative of schrabben to scrape

Example Sentences

Nine squealed, scrabbling to stay on his feet.

From Literature

Wolf’s hind paws scrabbled wildly at the edge.

From Literature

We scrabble around in the nearby trees till we’ve found some sticks.

From Literature

Our hands collided, both scrabbling for it in our panic to get it hidden, and it fell into the bubbling water of the fountain and vanished.

From Literature

Birds soared and swooped, screeched and fished; iguanas and lizards scrabbled; sea lions lazed and their king’s honk! echoed across the water.

From Literature

Related Words

• clamber
• creep
• drag
• inch
• plod
• poke
• slide
• slither
• squirm
• wriggle