scrabbling
present participle ofscrabble
scrabble
verb[I+ adv/prep]
uk/ˈskræb.əl/us/ˈskræb.əl/to useyourfingerstoquicklyfindsomething that you cannotsee:
He was scrabblinginthesandsearchingfor thering.
totryto get somethingquicklythat is noteasilyavailable:
Thegovernmentis scrabblingaroundforwaystoraiserevenuewithout putting uptaxes.
informal
toclimbquicklyand withoutcare:
Paul scrabbledupthecliff,dislodgingseveralsmallstones.
We were scrabblingovertherocksasfastas we could.
Searching
- -seeking
- beachcomb
- beachcomber
- beachcombing
- body search
- bounty hunter
- divine
- keepyour/aneye out forsomeone/somethingidiom
- leave no stone unturnedidiom
- manhunt
- mudlark
- mudlarking
- nose
- scout
- scratch
- seeksomeone/somethingout
- seeker
- shake
- shakesomeonedown
- shakedown
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Moving quickly
Trying and making an effort
Hurrying and doing things quickly
Examplesofscrabbling
scrabbling
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
That leaves manyscrabblingfor funds and leading a scrimping and saving existence.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
In some areas we seem to bescrabblingaround for projects.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The nursery voucher scheme wasted millions on bureaucracy and advertising, and resulted in providers competing for children, and parentsscrabblingfor places.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The public are entitled to information about such matters and cannot goscrabblingthrough tenders and agreements.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They arescrabblingon, through humiliation after humiliation, trying to defend their large-camps policy.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
We arescrabblingaround among the poor to make that distinction.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Desperate people arescrabblingfor food.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I have seen them on many occasions: as soon as something sets off their metal detector, they beginscrabblingaround and digging to try to find the object.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
It has been known for weeks that there was a threat of floods in the area, so there is something wrong if we arescrabblingaround for helicopters.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Jobcentres such as the one in my constituency are so undermanned that the staff arescrabblingto keep pace with the paperwork and pointing applicants towards the notice board.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The space station's original elegant design has given way to haphazard expansion byscrabblingfactions of every species.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Apart fromscrabblingover the water or swimming, some species actually can jump off the water surface.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.As they take stock of the situation they hearscrabblingsounds from the roof and discover that an alien has made its way in through an open window.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
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