scrabble
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skrabuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskɹæbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
transitive
To gather hastily.
intransitive
To move with difficulty by making rapid movements back and forth with the hands or paws.
transitive
To mark with irregular lines or letters; to scribble on.
noun
A board game in which words are formed from letters in patterns similar to a crossword puzzle; each letter has a value and those values are used to score the game
A board game in which players draw letter tiles and take turns to make interlocking words like a crossword, scoring points according to the letters played and their positions on the board.
A scramble.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
Used this way, scrabble is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in technical or specialist writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use scrabble
- “I had to scrabble for ideas to finish the essay on time.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.