Definition of "scrabble"

scrabble

/ˈskɹæbəl/

verb
third-person singular simple present scrabbles, present participle scrabbling, simple past and past participle scrabbled
1. (intransitive) To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
  Quotations
  […] 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, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934
  So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged, then he scrooged again[.]
  1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 12
2. (transitive) To gather hastily.
3. (intransitive) To move with difficulty by making rapid movements back and forth with the hands or paws.
4. (intransitive) To scribble.
  Quotations
  David […] scrabbled on the doors of the gate.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1 Samuel 21:13
5. (transitive) To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on.
noun
plural scrabbles
1. A scramble.