scrabble
verb
[ ˈskrab(ə)l ]
• scratch or grope around with one's fingers to find, collect, or hold on to something.
• "she scrabbled at the grassy slope, desperate for purchase"
Similar:
scratch,
grope,
rummage,
root,
pole,
grub,
scavenge,
fumble,
feel,
clamber,
scramble,
poozle,
grabble,
scrabble
noun
• an act of scratching or scrambling for something.
• "he heard the scrabble of claws behind him"
• a game in which players build up words on a board from small lettered squares or tiles.
Origin:
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘make marks at random, scrawl’): from Middle Dutch schrabbelen, frequentative of schrabben ‘to scrape’. The noun sense ‘struggle to achieve something’ is originally a North American usage dating from the late 18th century.
