scribble

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verb

scrib·​ble ˈskri-bəl How to pronounce scribble (audio)
scribbled; scribbling ˈskri-b(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce scribble (audio) ; scribbles

transitive + intransitive

1
: to write or draw hastily or carelessly
a note scribbled on the back of an envelope
Harriet scribbled in her notebook as soon as she took her seat.Louise Fitzhugh
He took a stump of lead pencil out of his pocket and scribbled a moustache on the lion's upper lip and then a pair of spectacles on its eyes.C. S. Lewis
2
: to fill or cover something with careless or worthless writings or drawings
a scribbled envelope
… papers … scribbled over with clues …English Digest

scribble

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noun

plural scribbles
: a piece of writing or a drawing that is done quickly or carelessly
She could barely make out the doctor's scribble.
a page covered with random scribbles
… he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Harry could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.J. K. Rowling

Examples of scribble in a Sentence

Verb She scribbled a note to him and then dashed off to her meeting. He scribbled down his phone number. Students scribbled furiously as the professor lectured. She was scribbling away in a notebook. The toddler scribbled all over the paper.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Other artists, like Joseph Beuys, who scribbled out a quasi-Marxist manifesto, and Dalí, had been born early enough in the 20th century to know the full enormity of Nazism, fascism and the Second World War. Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 25 Mar. 2024 Image Image And unlike pop-culture portrayals of theoretical physicists — solitarily scribbling away on blackboards, enveloped in clouds of chalk dust — Dr. Massey likes working with people. Katrina Miller, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024 Chanda clung to copies of Melody Maker and scribbled down lyrics from his idols like the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath, who pumped out of jukeboxes and radio stations. Tracy Kawalik, SPIN, 5 Mar. 2024 Grab a set of themed blank cards, make a cup of hot tea, throw on a Hallmark movie, and get to scribbling. Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 5 Feb. 2024 The previous year, the Times had published an admiring profile of Taki, a teen-ager who scribbled his tag, TAKI 183, on walls and subway cars across the five boroughs. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 The singer agreed and proceeded to scribble her signature on McCarthy’s forehead with a black Sharpie. Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 25 Feb. 2024 In four videos uploaded by witness Michael Vandi, who heads Addy AI, an AI company, a man who is using his jacket to cover his face can be seen scribbling on the back of the car with what appears to be a sharpie. Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2024 On the opposite end of the court, Brian Dutcher took a seat in the huddle and started furiously scribbling on the whiteboard in his lap. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Jan. 2024
Noun
Since Belichick's history-making scribble, the Jets have had seven different head coaches and no Super Bowl appearances. David K. Li, NBC News, 11 Jan. 2024 But what happened at Oceanwide Plaza wasn’t some spur of the moment scribble. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2024 Others say that the text is an artificial language or strange shorthand, and others still see the text as meaningless scribbles. Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2024 The house looks lived in with furniture from different eras and childhood scribbles hidden in closet walls. Gieson Cacho, The Mercury News, 19 Jan. 2024 Believe it or not, but this is an improvement from the generic scribble in earlier versions of SD. Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 27 July 2023 The studio around her was cluttered with gear—vintage pianos, pedalboards with incoherent scribbles on strips of masking tape—belonging to the Decemberists, who had been there for months, working on a forthcoming album. Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2024 Many of the pages of the young mother's journals had her children's scribbles on them, as seen at left. Iris Carreras, CBS News, 15 Dec. 2023 Each thermostat had a piece of paper sticky-taped to it, with a helpful scribble from the previous homeowner explaining how to operate the gadget. Chris Baraniuk, WIRED, 29 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scribble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English scriblen, from Medieval Latin scribillare, from Latin scribere to write

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1577, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of scribble was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near scribble

Cite this Entry

“Scribble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scribble. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

scribble

verb
scrib·​ble ˈskrib-əl How to pronounce scribble (audio)
scribbled; scribbling -(ə-)liŋ How to pronounce scribble (audio)
: to write or draw hastily or carelessly
scribble noun
scribbler
ˈskrib-(ə-)lər
noun
Etymology

Verb

Middle English scriblen "to write hurriedly or carelessly," from Latin scribillare (same meaning), from earlier scribere "to write" — related to scribe

More from Merriam-Webster on scribble

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