scrab·ble (skrāb'əl) v.
scrab·bled, scrab·bling, scrab·bles
v.
intr.
To scrape or grope about frenetically with the hands. To struggle by or as if by scraping or groping. To climb with scrambling, disorderly haste; clamber. To make hasty, disordered markings; scribble. v.
tr.
To make or obtain by scraping together hastily. To scribble on or over. n. The act or an instance of scrabbling. A scribble; a doodle.
[Dutch schrabbelen, from Middle Dutch, frequentative of schrabben, to scrape; see sker-1 in Indo-European roots.] scrab'bler n., scrab'bly adj. |