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
In the new South, one scrabbling to industrialize, business owners could now hire unpaid labor through the penal system.
—
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026
That left the administration scrabbling for other ways to reimpose duties that were struck down.
—Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 12 Mar. 2026
Next went Marshall Allen, hands on his sax like feral scrabbling mice.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
This left the ruling Labour Party scrabbling.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2025
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
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
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 26 Apr. 2026
That left the administration scrabbling for other ways to reimpose duties that were struck down.
—Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 12 Mar. 2026
Next went Marshall Allen, hands on his sax like feral scrabbling mice.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
This left the ruling Labour Party scrabbling.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2025
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
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
-
Archer-Daniels-Midland, the 125-year-old agricultural processor and food ingredient provider, has been climbing quietly and steadily the past 12 months.—
Carter Braxton Worth,
CNBC,
1 May 2026
-
Becerra quickly began climbing in the polls, and is now one of the leading candidates.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
There was an emotional honesty that embraced the idea that growth isn’t always linear (see Andie from The Devil Wears Prada, fumbling a relationship with a good guy because her career came first).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Be ill-prepared for Christmas and face the danger of fumbling your most profitable time of the year.—
Kamal Ahmed,
Fortune,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Packing motion sickness remedies ahead of time is an easy way to avoid scrambling if the ship starts rocking.—
Rosie Marder,
Travel + Leisure,
27 Apr. 2026
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If students don’t already have friends at the same school, they are left scrambling to find someone.—
Mary Frances Ruskell,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
McGovern, who is thirty-nine, appeared in the courtroom looking trim, with a neat beard and the hint of a residual Emirati tan.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
At the time of the move, Venable said the Sox were looking for an offensive boost behind the plate.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
People were clambering for a photo.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
13 Apr. 2026
-
After clambering through the woods, Bowie, with help from her friend Laurie Brasil, reached Shy and was shocked to find Bow sitting right beside her.—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Sunday, May 3 Manchester United vs Liverpool The Premier League season is reaching its conclusion, and away from the title race between Arsenal and Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool will contest the pick of the weekend’s games.—
The Athletic Live Team,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) has detected ultra-powerful gamma rays—reaching energies of about one quadrillion electron volts (PeV)—coming from a seemingly ordinary stellar remnant.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scrabbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scrabbling. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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