Verb She scrabbled around in her handbag for a pen. He scrabbled at the slippery rock. Noun it'll be a long scrabble to pull ourselves out of poverty
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Now, airports from New Zealand to Canada are scrabbling for public support in a bid to remain open. Natasha Frost, Quartz, 26 Mar. 2020 Russia cut the supply for several days, forcing Belarus to scrabble for other energy sources before some supplies resumed. Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2020 People weren’t exactly scrabbling to fight over a seat. Jonathan Vatner, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2020 Watch the hooves of a dying creature frantically scrabbling to escape, trying to obey signals from its brain that its body can no longer execute. David E. Petzal, Field & Stream, 3 Dec. 2019 The male nipped my ankles and scrabbled over my back, pushing me below the surface. Jennifer Hayes, National Geographic, 19 Dec. 2019 Featuring a new cast of young heroes scrabbling for survival in a galaxy bereft of the Jedi Order, this film reunites some of the franchise’s classic characters to take down a superweapon even more terrifying than the Death Star. Alex Kane, USA TODAY, 12 Nov. 2019 Carmen Izquierdo-Oliva grew up in South Los Angeles with immigrant parents who scrabbled to make ends meet as painters and janitors. Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2019 President Donald Trump has been hunting for reasons to extract trade concessions from the European Union with the eagerness of a dog scrabbling around for a bone buried in the back yard.Washington Post, 11 July 2019
Noun
In the scrabble of all against all, Poulain continues, physical prowess became more important than fertility. Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 28 July 2021 In the early 90s, Nigeria’s central government recognized scrabble as a sport. Oluwatosin Adeshokan, Quartz Africa, 8 Nov. 2019 Across the street from her, a kinetic scrabble of orange and blue runs the height of a five-story brick building like an electric charge. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 27 July 2019 Anthony was happiest being with family & friends, and enjoyed playing scrabble & cards.courant.com, 10 July 2019 Here is the scrabble of historical experience before history has laid down its narrative paths. Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2016 Then there was the scrabble of a key at a lock, and the other door, the one facing him, that led to the free world, opened. Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 25 Mar. 2018 Mémère loved family gatherings and was ready anytime for a game of scrabble, cards, the challenge of a good puzzle or a computer game.courant.com, 5 Mar. 2018 Spoelstra masks this small flaw by getting his group to outwork teams in scrabbles for loose balls. Karl Bullock, SI.com, 1 Feb. 2018 See More