scribbled; scribbling
ˈskri-b(ə-)liŋ 
; scribbles
; scribbles
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
Louise FitzhughHe 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
C. S. Lewis2
: to fill or cover something with careless or worthless writings or drawings
a scribbled envelope
… papers … scribbled over with clues …—English Digest
English Digest
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
J. K. RowlingExamples 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
JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
Father denies abuse Dennis looked down and scribbled on a notepad throughout most of Wednesday’s testimony.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2025
But the field now is worlds away from those midnight pencil scribbles in a spiral notebook that kept his son alive until better technology came along.
—Carrie Arnold, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scribble
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Verb
One story of the Desert Fathers recounts a sighting of a demon perched on the top of the monastery, busily scribbling down all the faults of the brothers within.
—JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
Father denies abuse Dennis looked down and scribbled on a notepad throughout most of Wednesday’s testimony.
—Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 30 Oct. 2025
Noun
Notes, document annotations, scribbles and works of doodle art can be made using the latest Pen3 input, which has been designed to look like a regular pen.
—New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2025
But the field now is worlds away from those midnight pencil scribbles in a spiral notebook that kept his son alive until better technology came along.
—Carrie Arnold, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scribble
Cite this Entry
“Scribble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scribble. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Etymology
Verb
Middle English scriblen "to write hurriedly or carelessly," from Latin scribillare (same meaning), from earlier scribere "to write" — related to scribe
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