scrabble
See also: Scrabble and scrabblé
English
Etymology
From Middle Dutch schrabbelen, frequentative of schrabben (“to scrape”), equivalent to scrab + -le. More at scrape.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈskɹæbəl/
- Rhymes: -æbəl
Audio (US) (file)
Verb
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 964384981, 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
- hardscrabble
- scrabbler
Translations
to scrape or scratch powerfully
|
to do rapid back-and-forth movements with hands or paws
|
to scribble — see scribble
See also
- scrab
- scramble
- scrap
- scrape
- scrapple (a sausage-like food)
Noun
scrabble (plural scrabbles)
- A scramble.
- a scrabble for dear life
Anagrams
- cabblers, clabbers, crabbles
French
Noun
scrabble m (plural scrabbles)
- (Scrabble) a play where all seven tiles are used; a bingo
Verb
scrabble
- inflection of scrabbler:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
Further reading
- “scrabble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English scrabble.
Noun
scrabble n (plural scrabble-uri)
- scrabble
Declension
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 |