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scrabble

Pronunciation: /ˈskrab(ə)l/

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Definition of scrabble

verb

[no object]

scratch or grope around with one’s fingers to find, collect, or hold on to something:she scrabbled at the grassy slope, desperate for purchase
(of an animal) scratch at something with its claws:a lonely dog was scrabbling at the door
[with adverbial of direction] scramble or crawl quickly:lizards scrabbling across the walls

noun

1 [in singular] an act of scratching or scrambling for something:he heard the scrabble of claws behind him

2 (Scrabble) [mass noun] trademark a game in which players build up words on a board from small lettered squares or tiles.

Origin:

mid 16th century (in the sense 'make marks at random, scrawl'): from Middle Dutch schrabbelen, frequentative of schrabben 'to scrape'. The noun sense 'struggle to achieve something' is originally a North American usage dating from the late 18th century

scrabble in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of scrabble in the US English dictionary

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