1
as in climbing
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 fumbling
to search for something blindly or uncertainly
he frantically scrabbled through the storage chest looking for the needed documents
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scrabbling
He’s blessed with a tense, scrabbling physicality on screen, plus a baby-Brando glower beneath a head of striking blond curls, and Nemes directs him into a stance of braced, vulnerable defensiveness that serves the film’s purposes well — even if his character, too, wants for interior light.
—
Guy Lodge, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Her left hand is scrabbling over the surface of the thin soil, grasping at dead leaves, something to wipe herself.
—Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The young Canadian couple are recent transplants to the French capital, having logged a decade as content creators, performance artists and DJs fond of zombie makeup and body dysphoria, slowly scrabbling their way onto the international fashion scene.
—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Guy Lodge, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
Her left hand is scrabbling over the surface of the thin soil, grasping at dead leaves, something to wipe herself.
—Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
The young Canadian couple are recent transplants to the French capital, having logged a decade as content creators, performance artists and DJs fond of zombie makeup and body dysphoria, slowly scrabbling their way onto the international fashion scene.
—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scrabbling
Verb
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The latest reading reveals that inflation has caught up with many items with the overall index climbing nearly 11% over the past two and a half years.—
Alexander Coolidge,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
3 Oct. 2025
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Simple tasks like sitting on the couch, climbing into a car seat or getting down on the floor became difficult.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But the Patriots gave it right back as Rhamondre Stevenson, who has had trouble fumbling early this season, was stripped after catching a pass from Maye.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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Although the scoring position turnover trend continued, with CJ Stokes and Javen Nicholas fumbling in plus-territory on consecutive drives in the third quarter, the offense was much improved with Wilcke in the game.—
Hunter Bailey,
Charlotte Observer,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Emergency services are scrambling to find survivors today, with military troops, police and civilian volunteers carrying out door-by-door searches.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
1 Oct. 2025
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Nonetheless, it was widely seen as an opening move that had other feds scrambling for hard answers from bosses.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Customers looking for suggested dates for military or international addresses should visit the USPS holiday shipping page.—
Michelle Del Rey,
Louisville Courier Journal,
4 Oct. 2025
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Investigators from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office are looking for relatives or friends of a Walnut Hills man who died.—
Gillian Stawiszynski,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The piece is a collection of disused shoemaker boxes, once used by cobblers to keep tools, pressed against each other and stacked up, clambering toward the ceiling.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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By the end of the night, so many fans had crowd-surfed from the pit to the stage, clambering onto the platform, that the band members were barely visible.—
Audrey Gibbs,
Nashville Tennessean,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Emergency crews faced challenges reaching the crash site due to heavy traffic and the ongoing freeway construction zone.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
7 Oct. 2025
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Muncy fielded the ball cleanly, turned and threw as Betts was reaching third base.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scrabbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scrabbling. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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