scrabble
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Dutch schrabbelen, frequentative of schrabben (“to scrape”), equivalent to scrab + -le. More at scrape.
Pronunciation
Verb
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- (intransitive) To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
- […] 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.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
- (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.
- Bible, 1 Sam. xxi. 13
- David […] scrabbled on the doors of the gate.
- Bible, 1 Sam. xxi. 13
- (transitive) To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on.
- to scrabble paper
Derived terms
Translations
to scrape or scratch powerfully
|
to do rapid back-and-forth movements with hands or paws
|
to scribble — see scribble
See also
Noun
scrabble (plural scrabbles)
- A scramble.
- a scrabble for dear life
Anagrams
French
Noun
scrabble m (plural scrabbles)
Verb
scrabble
- first-person singular present indicative of scrabbler
- third-person singular present indicative of scrabbler
- first-person singular present subjunctive of scrabbler
- third-person singular present subjunctive of scrabbler
- second-person singular imperative of scrabbler
Further reading
- “scrabble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle Dutch
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/æbəl
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French non-lemma forms
- French verb forms