scribble

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskɹɪbəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪbəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English scribblen, scriblen, scryblen, scribelen, equivalent to scribe +‎ -le (frequentative suffix).

Verb

scribble (third-person singular simple present scribbles, present participle scribbling, simple past and past participle scribbled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To write or draw carelessly and in a hurry.

   I suddenly remembered I needed to buy bleach, so scribbled it down on my shopping list.

2. To doodle.
3. To write badly; to work as an inferior author or journalist.

Synonyms

• (all senses): scrawl

Coordinate terms

• (write hurriedly): jot

Derived terms

• scribbler
• scribbleress
• transcribble

Related terms

• scribe

Translations

Noun

scribble (countable and uncountable, plural scribbles)

1. Careless, hasty writing, doodle or drawing

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Swedish skrubbla?”)

Verb

scribble (third-person singular simple present scribbles, present participle scribbling, simple past and past participle scribbled)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To card or tease (wool) coarsely; to run through a scribbler.

Further reading

• “scribble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “scribble”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• cribbles