scrabble

A group of people scrabble on the ground, sifting through the soil.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025

“It was louder and closer; it was no longer a single belligerent hum glinting with accents of brass; it had diversified into a rolling scrabble of anger, holiday high spirits and sports crowd roar.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

“Imagine you have scrabble tiles that spell out ‘Powerball.’

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2023

Like my parents and many others I knew in the South Bronx, they scrabble to hang on and perhaps wonder if anyone sees or hears their distress.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2023

Pittsburgh was a city that had once sparked a rebellion, a place where one had to scrabble and scrape and fight for a chance at prosperity.

From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland

She scrabbles to find her reason for being.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 30, 2023

But in one instance, a dog uses Halle Berry’s back as a springboard, then scrabbles up the wall to the second story and attacks a gunman on a balcony.

From Slate ● May 16, 2019

As his wife scrabbles with angry protesters and gripes about her compromised marriage, he is sequestered in the bathroom, represented only by a mordant song that his aide-de-camp sings on his behalf:

From The New Yorker ● May 9, 2016

Some have suggested Mr Cameron is a study in "government by essay crisis" - like a student who suddenly realises work is urgently overdue, and scrabbles to put something brilliant together at the last moment.

From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2014

In the meantime, Queenie breaks free and scrabbles up the hill.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

As she scrabbled for a laser pointer in her large handbag, her coloratura was comically on point, though she was inaudible in her middle range during the cabaletta.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025

"I had no idea how long it would take the officers to get there, so we scrabbled about for things to talk about," the 39-year-old says.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2022

He scrabbled with all four paws, found some purchase, and scarpered up the slope and away.

From Slate ● Jan. 30, 2021

But she scrabbled together not quite a dozen students and developed a curriculum that now includes assignments such as “What is a written or oral tradition your speakers have in their culture?”

From Washington Post ● May 16, 2019

Behind him, Hooper’s hands scrabbled about in the parcel, splitting open a paper bag.

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

Europe’s scrabbling together of funds to put into the pot is important here.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025

And, with the security of Europe under greater strain than at any time almost in living memory, can its leaders, who are currently scrabbling around, find an adequate response?

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2025

This is, though, where much of Europe has been for some time: scrabbling around for scraps from the Premier League’s table.

From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

When few other animals are out and about, wolverines are scrabbling up frozen slopes with their crampon-like claws and crunching through frozen bones of carrion dug out of snow.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023

There was a scrabbling sound from the roof outside the arches, and he ran to the windowsill to see the first pair of hands grasping the edge of the pantiles and pulling up.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman