SCRIBBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does scribble mean? 

• SCRIBBLE (noun)
  The noun SCRIBBLE has 2 senses:

1. poor handwriting

2. an aimless drawing

  Familiarity information: SCRIBBLE used as a noun is rare.

• SCRIBBLE (verb)
  The verb SCRIBBLE has 2 senses:

1. write down quickly without much attention to detail

2. write carelessly

  Familiarity information: SCRIBBLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SCRIBBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Poor handwriting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

cacography; scratch; scrawl; scribble

Hypernyms ("scribble" is a kind of...):

hand; handwriting; script (something written by hand)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "scribble"):

chicken scratch (cramped or illegible handwriting)

squiggle (an illegible scrawl)

Derivation:

scribble (write carelessly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An aimless drawing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

doodle; scrabble; scribble

Hypernyms ("scribble" is a kind of...):

drawing (a representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines)

Derivation:

scribble (write down quickly without much attention to detail)

• SCRIBBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they scribble    ... he / she / it scribbles   
Past simple: scribbled   
Past participle: scribbled   
-ing form: scribbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Write down quickly without much attention to detail

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

scrabble; scribble

Hypernyms (to "scribble" is one way to...):

write (communicate or express by writing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

scribble (an aimless drawing)

scribbler (informal terms for journalists)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Write carelessly

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

scrawl; scribble

Hypernyms (to "scribble" is one way to...):

write (mark or trace on a surface)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

scribble (poor handwriting)

scribbler (a writer whose handwriting is careless and hard to read)

 Context examples 

It is good practice for me, and with my sketchbook will give you a better idea of my tour than these scribbles.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He turned to his desk and scribbled off several telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had in his hand several sheets of a notebook, covered with scribbled writing—here they are—and he laid them on my table.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You have done excellent work,” said Holmes, scribbling a few words upon a half-sheet of paper.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A sheet of vellum lay upon the board in front of him, and he held a pen in his hand, with which he had been scribbling in a rude schoolboy hand.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He called for paper and pencil, and for drinks all around, and while they drank his very good health, he clung to the bar and scribbled.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and handed it to him.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By the advice of several worthy persons, to whom, with the author’s permission, I communicated these papers, I now venture to send them into the world, hoping they may be, at least for some time, a better entertainment to our young noblemen, than the common scribbles of politics and party.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I never can, so I'll only give you bits out of my notebook, for I've done nothing but sketch and scribble since I started.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I scribbled a note to my neighbour, rushed upstairs to explain the matter to my wife, and joined Holmes upon the door-step.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)