scrabble
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle Dutch schrabbelen, frequentative of schrabben (“to scrape”), equivalent to scrab + -le. More at scrape.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
scrabble (third-person singular simple present scrabbles, present participle scrabbling, simple past and past participle scrabbled)
- (intransitive) To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:
- […] there came no answer, except the echo of my own voice sounding hollow and far off down in the vault. So in despair I turned back to the earth wall below the slab, and scrabbled at it with my fingers, till my nails were broken and the blood ran out; having all the while a sure knowledge, like a cord twisted round my head, that no effort of mine could ever dislodge the great stone.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 12:
- So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged, then he scrooged again[.]
- (transitive) To gather hastily.
- (intransitive) To move with difficulty by making rapid movements back and forth with the hands or paws.
- She was on her hands and knees scrabbling in the mud, looking for her missing wedding ring.
- (intransitive) To scribble.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 21:13:
- David […] scrabbled on the doors of the gate.
- (transitive) To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on.
- to scrabble paper
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to do rapid back-and-forth movements with hands or paws
to scribble — see scribble
See also[edit]
Noun[edit]
scrabble (plural scrabbles)
- A scramble.
- a scrabble for dear life
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Noun[edit]
scrabble m (plural scrabbles)
Verb[edit]
scrabble
- inflection of scrabbler:
Further reading[edit]
- “scrabble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unadapted borrowing from English scrabble.
Noun[edit]
scrabble n (plural scrabble-uri)
Declension[edit]
Declension of scrabble
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) scrabble | scrabbleul | (niște) scrabble-uri | scrabble-urile |
genitive/dative | (unui) scrabble | scrabbleului | (unor) scrabble-uri | scrabble-urilor |
vocative | scrabbleule | scrabble-urilor |
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æbəl
- Rhymes:English/æbəl/2 syllables
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms
- Romanian terms borrowed from English
- Romanian unadapted borrowings from English
- Romanian terms derived from English
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns