1
as in climbed
to move (as up or over something) often with the help of the hands in holding or pulling
we scrabbled up a sand dune to get a better view of the sea
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in fumbled
to search for something blindly or uncertainly
he frantically scrabbled through the storage chest looking for the needed documents
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of scrabbled
The Eagles have scrabbled at multiple offensive schemes while leveraging the strength of their defense.
—
Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scrabbled
Verb
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The price of Brent Crude, the world’s benchmark for crude oil, reportedly climbed to $120 a barrel for a period on Monday before later dropping to around $110.—
Washington Examiner Staff,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Mar. 2026
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Futures on China’s 30-year and 10-year bonds dropped the most since late December on Monday, while corresponding cash yields climbed.—
Bloomberg News,
Bloomberg,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Dallas stumbled, fumbled and grumbled its way to a 122-92 loss, which was somehow not its most lopsided game of the season.—
Mike Curtis,
Dallas Morning News,
9 Mar. 2026
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And the counseling office fumbled it.—
Sharyn Alfonsi,
CBS News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Martin was shot several times, then pulled his own weapon and fired inside the club as patrons rushed for cover and scrambled for the exits.—
Rick Hurd,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
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Authorities scrambled to provide some sort of infrastructure in these settlements.—
John Vink,
The Dial,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Heat’s bench rotation also looked a little different because of the team’s injuries.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
11 Mar. 2026
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And the longer the crisis lasts, the greater the danger to an economy that already looked vulnerable before the chaos in the Middle East.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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At another point, a ranger waded through the mud of a mangrove forest and clambered into a mangrove to catch a bird for a blood sample, before doing the same trek in reverse to put it back.—
Luis Melecio-Zambrano,
Mercury News,
18 Jan. 2026
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But after the show’s debut, fans clambered for more.—
Emily Zemler,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scrabbled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scrabbled. Accessed 16 Mar. 2026.
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