scribblen.
/ˈskrɪbl/, U.S. /ˈskrɪbəl/ 1. A quickly or carelessly composed piece of writing, esp. a letter or note; a worthless or trivial piece of writing. Also as a mass noun: quickly or carelessly composed writing.Often used depreciatively to refer to a person's own writing.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > a scribble or scrawl
scribblinga1555
scribble1577
scribblement1584
scrabble1842
scriggle1905
society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > hastily written letter
scribble1577
scrawl1665
scrib1795
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] > worthless or trivial
pap1548
scribble1577
scribbling1711
dab1729
scribblement1785
fluff1906
non-book1960
1577 Sir P. Sidney Let. 3 May in Corr. (2012) II. 733 But I will leaue..[that] till I may my selfe say it unto yow. and so his speeches at my farewell which I am afraide I was in the begin ninge [sic] of these scribbles to longe in.
1592 H. Unton Let. 20 Mar. in Corr. (1847) 397 Your Honors pardon I crave for this my shorte and hastie scribles.
1632 E. Hide in T. Randolph Jealous Lovers To Author sig. ¶¶2 When they that write by guesse, Scatter their scribbles, and invade the presse.
1664 G. Starkey Brief Exam. & Censure Several Med. 15 Such a pitiful toy, and more pitiful Scribble in praise of it.
1709 R. Steele & J. Swift Tatler No. 70 I shall trouble you with no more Scribble.
1730 J. Swift Let. 28 Aug. in Corr. (1963) III. 33 If a scribble comes out complaining of our hardships here, it is infallibly layd at my door.
1814 J. Adams Let. 9 Apr. in Wks. (1856) X. 96 As you seem to have found some amusement in some of my scribbles, I beg your acceptance of another morsel.
1891 Berrow's Worcester Jrnl. 8 Aug. 3/7 They [sc. the poems] appeared to have been the nonsensical scribble of a man of no common talents.
1948 K. Ferrier Let. 16 Jan. (2003) ii. 49 Just a short scribble, 'cos I know you'll be wondering how I got on.
1955 Brit. Bee Jrnl. 21 July 363/1 What beats me is that people leave the Editor any room to publish my scribble.
2008 D. Maraniss Rome 1960 iii. 65 His scribbles, like a multitude of other letters from his life, were saved for posterity.
2.
a. An irregular, apparently meaningless mark produced by making a rapid line or stroke with a pen, paintbrush, etc.; a squiggle; a scrawled line or shape. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > winding curve(s) > thing having > a line
serpenter1605
scribble1665
scriggle1873
striggle1906
squiggle1928
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia 3 Of what pitifull bungling scribbles and scrawls it [sc. the writing] was compos'd.
1879 Art Amateur Nov. 114/1 A designer..who knew how to ‘vignette’ a drawing off with rich crumbly scribbles at the edge.
1896 Pedagogical Seminary Oct. 79 In answer to the request to draw a picture of a man she promptly makes a tangle of scribbles and calls it ‘man’.
1910 Museum News May 112 These scribbles and wriggles disappear of course when the picture is viewed at the right distance.
1985 D. Simpson Last Seen Alive xvii. 161 She was wearing a summer dress with long sleeves and tie-neck in a silky fawn material patterned with brown scribbles.
2004 Independent on Sunday 11 Apr. (ABC Mag.) 7 Cy Twombly was happy to be revered as a great American artist of scribbles and splashes.
b. A picture produced in a spontaneous or unstudied way with fast lines or strokes; a rapid sketch.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific manner
monogram1610
description1655
manu-tract1660
eye-draft1695
outline1735
eye-sketch1757
scribble1824
monography1828
technical drawing1831
chic1844
reversion1848
outline drawing1850
life drawing1867
1824 Morning Post 27 July Mr. Cauty came and objected to the shape, and made a scribble of the mode in which he wished it to be done.
1882 Mag. of Art 5 29/2 The merest ‘scribble’ done from nature has frequently been the starting-point of a famous picture.
1909 Burlington Mag. 14 275/2 On one sheet of studies are some caricature scribbles.
1930 Art Digest 15 Dec. 6/1 The unique early Florentine portrait of a youth in sanguine, and the little superb red chalk scribble by Michelangelo.
2003 J. Turner in D. Chislett Urban 03 116 I..bent down to pick up the drawing. On it was a koki-pen scribble of a man and a woman in a bright red bed.
c. Irregular or untidy handwriting, esp. that which is produced quickly or carelessly; an example of this. Also: a word, phrase, etc., written in an irregular or untidy hand.In quot. 1896 in at a scribble: at a fast pace which produces irregular or untidy writing (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [noun] > bad handwriting > untidy or illegible
scribbling1536
scribble-scrabble1602
scrawling1612
scrawl1710
scrawls1728
hieroglyphic1742
scoteinography1779
scratch1785
pot-hookery1795
hen scrat1825
cryptogram1827
scribble1828
griffonage1832
hen-scratching1851
chicken scratches1863
hieroglyph1875
1828 I. D'Israeli Comm. Life Charles I I. ii. 19 The hand-writing of Charles..was elegant, and opposite to the slovenly scribble of his father.
1841 N. Hawthorne Let. 16 Sept. (1984) 574 Didst thou ever behold such an awful scribble as thy husband writes, since he became a farmer?
1896 Amer. Annals Deaf Feb. 70 The speed of writing, even at a scribble, hardly exceeds thirty words a minute.
1904 A. Blake Man with Hoe xxiv. 334 On a flyleaf he found the words in Ed's unmistakable scribble—‘Good-bye, Lele. You've been good to me.’
1988 T. Kent Public Purpose xii. 137 Most of the speeches were typed by the brilliant secretaries from my scribble.
2014 Vancouver Sun (Nexis) 17 Jan. a4 The suspect's apology..was a sad thing, written on a lined piece of yellow foolscap, the man's signature an illegible scribble.
ΚΠ
1665 R. Howard Committee i, in Four New Plays 73 O are you come, Long look't for comes at last. What,—you have a slow set pace, As well as your hasty scribble sometimes.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
ΚΠ
1842 H. Stanley Let. 9 Apr. in F. W. Haydon Benjamin Robert Haydon: Corr. & Table-talk (1876) I. 428 Schnorr is the only artist here who works his large cartoon from a slight scribble sketch.
1896 Pedagogical Seminary Oct. 83 If she were encouraged to indicate the hair, beard, hands and feet by one or two distinct and significant lines, it would..save her from falling back into scribble drawing.
1907 Edinb. Rev. July 230 The conventional ‘scribble’ foliage has descended to oblivion with the drawing books of our fathers.
1971 Jrnl. Educ. Res. 64 216 Have you tried ‘scribble writing’ in your kindergarten or first grade?
2003 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 25 July The Virginia-born artist [sc. Cy Twombly]..made millions out of large and extraordinarily inventive scribble paintings.
C2. † scribble-dashed adj. Obsolete rare produced as if by scribbling.
ΚΠ
1653 F. Philips Considerations dissolving Court of Chancery iv. 24 Other Mungrel and Scrible dashed hands made out of the Roman and Italian.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scribblev.1
/ˈskrɪbl/, U.S. /ˈskrɪbəl/ 1.
a. transitive. To write (a word, message, etc.) quickly or carelessly, in an irregular or untidy hand; to produce (a mark) resembling hurried or careless writing. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > write in specific style [verb (transitive)] > illegibly or untidily
scribblec1456
bescribble1582
scrawl1612
scratch1806
scribble-scrabble1847
scrabble1856
squiggle1942
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > draw [verb (transitive)] > roughly or rapidly
to shade out1591
to score out1615
to strike out1678
scribble1692
sketch1725
sketch1786
to rough in1826
cartoon1887
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > weaken [verb (transitive)] > write in slovenly manner
scribble1711
c1456 W. Worcester in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 157 I had but litille thyng to done when I scrybled thys bille.
1490 J. Sherwood in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 462 Scribyllyd in the moste haste at..Aucland.
1533 T. More 2nd Pt. Confut. Tyndals Answere vii. p. ccccxii But yf he fele yt wryten there in dede as he sayth he dothe, then he feleth yt scrybled and scraped in his herte by the croked clouen clawes of the deuyll.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 56/2 For al ye time..could scant haue suffised vnto ye bare wryting alone, all had it bene but in paper & scribled forth in hast at aduenture.
1537 R. Layton Let. in T. Wright Three Chapters Lett. Suppression Monasteries (1843) 77 Scribullede this Satterday, an written with the hasty hand of your assurede servant.
1653 D. Osborne Lett. to Sir W. Temple (2002) 64 This (if you can read it, for tis strangely scribled) will bee Enough to answer yours.
1692 R. Bentley Matter & Motion cannot Think 38 That the innumerable Members of a Human Body..were at first fortuitously scribbled, and by meer accident compacted into this beautifull, and noble and most wonderfully usefull Frame.
1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 31 Jan. (1948) I. 177 So I could not scribble my morning lines to MD.
1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. II. 118 Though they could neither read nor write, yet they scribbled their marks, or signatures, at the bottom of it [sc. an agreement].
1842 S. Sharpe Egypt under Romans iii. 66 Travellers..have at all times been fond of carving or scribbling their names on the spot.
1894 To-day 26 May 69/2 He tore a strip off the margin of a newspaper, and scribbled a word in pencil.
1940 C. Morgan Voyage v. v. 469 She scribbled a message for Barbet, telling him where to find materials with which to make coffee.
1982 ‘C. Fremlin’ Parasite Person vi. 40 A row of ‘X's’, hurried kisses, all he had time to scribble.
2015 M. Scott Into Fire xxxv. 269 He pulls a small card from his inner pocket, scribbles a mobile phone number on it.
b. transitive. To cover (a surface) with scribbled marks, pictures, or writing. Frequently in passive with with. Also with over. Occasionally figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > mark [verb (transitive)] > cover with scrawling marks, inscriptions, etc.
scribble1540
scrawl1647
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > write in specific style [verb (transitive)] > illegibly or untidily > cover with
blota1513
scribble1540
daub1589
bescrawl1641
scrawl1647
bescribble1807
overscrawl1871
1540 J. Palsgrave in tr. G. Gnapheus Comedye of Acolastus Ep. Ded. sig. Aiijv They chuse moste commonly the very worste [words], and therewith scryble the bokes of theyr latyne auctours.
c1602 C. Marlowe tr. Ovid Elegies ii. v. sig. C3 Not silent were thine eyes, the boord with wine, Was scribled, and thy fingers writ a line.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. ii. 81 Is not this a lamentable thing..that Parchment being scribeld ore, should vndoe a man. View more context for this quotation
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxx. 176 The Common-peoples minds..scribbled over with the opinions of their Doctors.
1717 G. Berkeley Jrnls. Trav. Italy 12 Jan. in Wks. (1955) VII. 250 Most of these Obelisks are scribbled over with Hieroglypics [sic].
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. iii. 532 Having scribbled over both sides [of the medal], they are forced, as it were, to write upon the margin.
1796 T. Holcroft tr. F. L. Stolberg Trav. I. xxi. 142 We went into his chamber; every corner and plank of which are scribbled over, by travellers, in all languages.
1852 W. M. Thackeray Henry Esmond I. iii. 78 The page found my lord's sheet of paper scribbled over with dogs and horses.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Merlin & Vivien 527 in Idylls of King Thou read the book! And every margin scribbled, crost, and cramm'd With comment.
1939 Burlington Mag. Jan. 4/1 He was determined from a child to be a painter and nothing else, scribbling the floor and walls of the manse..with heads and poses.
1945 G. Kersh Ape, Dog & Serpent ii. 103 My face is lined too, but Time has scribbled it over with irrelevant doodles.
2010 C. Palahniuk Tell-all (2011) 39 A man stands holding a paper tablet fluttering with pages. Each page scribbled with names and arrows.
c. intransitive. To write quickly or carelessly, in an irregular or untidy hand. Also: to produce irregularly shaped marks or lines resembling hurried or careless writing.In quots. 1573, 1977 with on: to continue writing quickly or carelessly, in an irregular or untidy hand.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [verb (intransitive)] > write carelessly
scribble1573
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > write in specific style [verb (intransitive)] > illegibly or untidily
scrabble1537
scribble1573
to scrawl it1611
scribble-scrabble1847
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > become weak or feeble [verb (intransitive)] > write in slovenly manner
scribble1573
1573 G. Gascoigne Hundreth Sundrie Flowres sig. Q.iii.v My hasty hand forthwith doth scribble on apace.
1601 Queen Elizabeth I Let. to Mountjoy in F. Moryson Itinerary (1617) ii. ii. ii. 151 I end, scribling in hast, Your louing Soueraigne. E. R.
1770 Westm. Jrnl. 11 Aug. The D. of C...scribbling with his pencil in a pocket book.
1840 Archaeologia 28 167 As if..some wag had got hold of the paint-pot, and amused himself in scribbling on the wall.
1887 Monthly Chron. North Country Lore & Legend Oct. 362/2 Readers of books less reverent and careful than they should have been—thoughtless persons who would scribble in the margin.
1909 Proc. Soc. Psychical Res. 1908–9 21 213 Try not to scribble so much—..The writing should be small and neat.
1977 E. Asinof Say it ain't so, Gordon Littlefield vii. 59 I blanched, my pen scribbling on without even forming words.
2006 A. Steffen et al. Worldchanging (2008) 431/1 Here they would gather to talk, perhaps scribbling on napkins, envisioning freedom for their society.
d. transitive. To produce (a drawing, image, etc.) in a spontaneous or unstudied way, with fast lines or strokes.
ΚΠ
1878 J. A. Symonds Shelley i. 8 Scribbling sketches of fir-trees and cedars.
1921 D. Maxwell Painter in Palestine iii. 80 Such ‘City Gates’ exist in Palestine. In an out of the way village in the north I scribbled a sketch of one.
1944 Freeport (Illinois) Jrnl.-Standard 3 Aug. 16/2 An officer scribbled a map on a piece of paper and directed the Germans to march themselves to a rear prison camp.
2002 Time Out N.Y. 9 May 67/4 At mid-decade, he..began to scribble and scrawl colorful and raucous paintings of blunt cartoon figures.
2.
a. intransitive. To compose a piece of writing quickly or carelessly; to produce a large amount of writing, esp. that which is regarded as worthless. Sometimes with on: to continue writing in such a way. Also: to engage in writing as a profession or pastime.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > follow occupation of writer [verb (intransitive)] > compose > worthless writing
scribblea1529
a1529 J. Skelton Poems against Garnesche in Poet Wks. (1843) I. 131 Scrybbyl thow, scrybyll thow, rayle or wryght, Wryght what thow wylte, I xall the aquyte.
1580 W. Fulke T. Stapleton & Martiall Confuted 38 This you shal neuer be able to proue while the world standeth, babble and scrible as long as you will.
1661 A. Marvell Let. to Mayor of Hull 1 June in Wks. (1875) I. 66 If I wanted my right hand yet I would scribble to you with my left, rather than neglect your business.
1683 T. Hoy Agathocles 6 The harden'd Wretches sinn'd, and scribbled on.
1722 Visct. Bolingbroke Let. 1 Jan. in J. Swift Lett. (1766) II. 236 The expression is equivocal; a fault, which our language often betrays those, who scribble hastily, into.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia V. x. vi. 295 Contenting himself with doing nothing but scribble and scribe.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) v. 61 I have scribbled myself, but have not yet published.
1880 Printing Trades Jrnl. 30 35 If a man scribbles for a Newspaper, or writes a magazine article.
1887 Monthly Packet Mar. 287 I find the post does not go out just yet, so I can scribble on for a little while.
1927 B. Vanzetti Let. 12 May in N. Sacco & B. Vanzetti Lett. (1997) ii. iv. 262 I have scribbled for over a week without succeeding to produce a single satisfactory line.
1978 Economist (Nexis) 2 Dec. 11 Today's free-speakers, who have been publicly scribbling, marching and even exchanging ideas..with foreign journalists.
2005 Writer's Mag. Sept. 13/1 Prolific saga and romance novelist Rita Bradshaw says that the need to scribble goes back as far as she can remember.
b. transitive. To write (a story, poem, etc.) quickly or carelessly, producing text usually regarded as worthless or poorly composed.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > be the author of or write (a work) [verb (transitive)] > compose hastily
scribble1576
palter1588
to throw together1646
dash1726
dash off, out1786
to run off1809
to strike off1821
to write off1841
1576 A. Fleming tr. Cicero in Panoplie Epist. 243 I scrible many vnperfect pamphlets and letters voyde of all art and learning.
1662 C. Bonde Salmasius Ep. to Rdr. sig. A3v It is the doom of serious books to be hooted at, by those who have nothing else to do but to scrible Pamphlets.
1730 J. Ralph Fashionable Lady iii. xix. 94 Every little Creature now, who has ever scribbled a Popular Ballad..thinks himself capable of writing an English Opera.
1764 Oxf. Sausage 184 I scribble Verses? why you know, I left the Muses long ago.
1822 T. Dibdin Morning, Noon & Night i. iv. 13 Though my son has his whims, and oddities, and scribbles romances.., his head and heart are good, depend on't.
1884 Publisher & Bookbuyer's Jrnl. 15 Nov. 19/1 Writers who scribble bosh.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Jan. 50/1 The balladists..scribbled new sheets of doggerel, prophesying fearful things for the future.
1980 R. Cormier Eight Plus One 59 In the days when I was scribbling stories in pencil at the kitchen table.
2003 S. Mackay Heligoland (2004) vi. 78 What's the point of employing a housekeeper if she's always..scribbling her wretched poetry instead of answering the door to the postman?
3. transitive. With adverbial or adjectival complement: to bring (a person or thing) into a specified state or condition by scribbling. Now somewhat rare.
ΚΠ
1701 Laconics (new ed.) iii. 119 Stay but a while, and you'l find he'l Scribble himself out of his little Reputation.
1734 A. Pope Corr. 15 Sept. (1956) III. 433 I have scribled the remainder of this page full.
1837 E. Bulwer-Lytton Ernest Maltravers I. i. xv. 148 At our age, we have passion, fancy, sentiment; we can't read them away, nor scribble them away.
1888 Amer. Architect & Building News 17 Mar. 128/2 The average American doubtless thinks that..the painter would be a more useful member of society were he scribbling himself into a consumption over some broker's account books.
1910 S. Rosenfeld Children of Destiny ii. 53 If I could scribble like you, perhaps I could scribble myself into a condition of gaiety like yours.
2008 S. Coonts Assassin (2009) 339 He should have scribbled himself rich and famous, like you did, eh?
Phrasal verbs
With adverbs in specialized senses.† to scribble away to scribble out to scribble up
Obsolete.
to scribble down transitive. To compose and send (a letter) in a hasty and sometimes careless manner.
ΚΠ
1777 Westm. Mag. July 371/2 He sits down to his desk..and scribbles away a parcel of letters that are hardly worth the postage.
1819 J. W. Alexander Let. 5 May in Forty Years' Familiar Lett. (1860) I. i. 1 I set myself down to scribble away a scrawl to let you know I was safely landed.
1826 J. W. Croker Let. 20 Mar. in L. J. Jennings Croker Papers (1884) I. xi. 292 I was easily induced to take up my pen against him, and I scribbled away a reply to Sir Walter.
transitive. To write down (something) quickly, in an untidy or careless hand; to note or jot down quickly. Also occasionally: to draw (something) using fast, irregular lines or strokes.
ΚΠ
1612 T. Heywood Apol. for Actors sig. Bv I thought it better to stammer out my mind, then not to speake at all; to scrible downe a marke in the stead of writing a name.
1648 Fraction in Assembly 14 I..went..to bed, yet not till I had scribled down a few notes, as helps to facilitate the next dayes labour.
1723 R. Robinson Ess. Kings 59 I pursue Montaign's Method in scribbling down whatever comes into my Head.
1831 C. C. F. Greville Mem. 31 July (1875) II. 174 I have scribbled down all I can recollect of a very loose conversation.
1878 ‘A. Clare’ Royal Banner ii. i. 126 I saw his shadow, ye see, and it looked that queer on the wall that I scribbled it down..and filled it in with ink to see how 'twould look.
1901 Athenæum 31 Aug. 294/1 The liquid brush-work with which the light leaves of the oak were rapidly and easily scribbled down by the painter.
2010 B. Alexandra Tuscan Rose (2013) 194 ‘Signora Agarossi will see you on Friday at eleven o'clock,’ he said, scribbling down the address.
1. transitive. To write out (a note, copy, etc.) quickly or carelessly.
ΚΠ
?1556 Exam. J. Philpot f. 93 This I haue in hast scribled out all myne examinacion hitherto.
1583 J. Hawkins in Archaeologia 33 193 I have brefflye..scryblyd out a note of the joynnynge of thordynary and extraordynary together, which I send.
1665 T. Hanmer Let. in Garden Bk. (1933) p. xiv I had scarce time to scribble out these..papers for you.
1773 New Foundling Hosp. for Wit: Pt. 6th 78 In rhyme I trifle out an hour..And scribble out a Cure for Love.
1800 C. Lamb Let. 3 Nov. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 224 I could not resist so facile & moderate demand, so scribbled out another [copy], omitting Sundry things.
1862 Christmas Drift Dec. 39/2 Theophilus immediately..scribbled out a hasty, but warm and thankful, note.
1948 R. Chaplin Wobbly iv. 209 As the deadline was at hand, I scribbled out a compromise statement.
2015 D. Rydall Emergence v. 98 I..scribbled out a (probably tear-stained) love poem on a piece of scratch paper.
2. transitive. To cross or strike out (text) with scribbled marks or lines.
ΚΠ
1893 Manitoba Free Press 25 Nov. 9/2 Now they would write a word or two, now scribble it out.
1947 Harvard Libr. Bull. 1 314 Here some words have been scribbled out with the pen. The first few words thus erased are quite indecipherable.
1975 Times 24 Mar. 14/5 The notice, Men Against Sexism, had been scribbled out and replaced by the more appropriate Men's Movement.
2000 R. J. Evans Entertainment v. 66 He tried to write a poem about it.., but scribbled it out and drew the 2-Tone logo instead.
transitive. To compile or compose (a text) in a hurried or unconsidered way.
ΚΠ
1557 R. Edgeworth Serm. very Fruitfull Pref. sig. ✠.iii I..vsed to pen my sermons muche like as I entended to vtter them to the audience: others I scribled vp not so perfitlie.
1596 H. Clapham Briefe of Bible ii. 234 I haue for your vses, sodainly scribled vp this Breviarie of the Bible.
1619 J. Hales Let. 4 Jan. 57 in Golden Remains (1659) His sudden and unexpected departure hath made me scrible up this, more rudely and concisely than I had intended.
1657 D. F. Let. Addr. to Protector 3 A thousand such idle and illogical rhapsodies scribled up with impertinency.
1764 J. Cunningham Let. 3 Nov. in Life (1781) p. ix After a tedious fit of idleness I scribbled up an affair, within these few days, which I call An Apologue.
1897 E. B. Tweedie Through Finland in Carts 195 We idled generally; wrote letters, scribbled up our diaries, chatted or made sketches.
1906 World's Work Sept. 7991/1 I scribbled up some sort of application and addressed it simply to ‘Booker T. Washington’.
2007 D. McGrady Eating Royally ii. 8 While the Queen does have the final say on what she wants to eat, she doesn't spend her time scribbling up menus and shopping lists!
Compounds
C1. attributive, designating a book, pad, etc., usually containing paper of inferior quality, which is used for scribbling notes, drawings, etc.Cf. scribbling n.1 Compounds 1.
ΚΠ
1838 N. P. Willis in N.-Y. Mirror 11 Aug. 52/1 I have pulled out my scrible-book from the niche in the sleeper overhead, and find, by luck, one sheet of tabula rasa.
1889 Christian Union (N.Y.) 13 June 758/3 I found..Bertha writing an abstract of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ in her ‘scribble book’.
1920 Woman's Home Missions Aug. 22/1 Books for young and old; picture cards;..writing tablets; scribble tablets.
1960 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 15 Dec. 22/5 Scrap books, scribble blocks, crayons, Christmas favors and other items.
2015 Buchan Observer (Nexis) 10 Nov. The Inspector has uncovered appalling failures including..calls being recorded on scribble pads.
C2. † scribble-wit n. Obsolete rare a person whose talents are employed in mediocre writing.In quot. 1720 used humorously, as a pseudonym.
scribble paper n. paper, often of inferior quality, used for scribbling notes, drawings, etc.; cf. scribbling paper n. at scribbling n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > paper for rough work
scribbling paper1791
scribble paper1853
scribbling1859
scrap paper1885
scratch paper1899
1853 ‘C. Bede’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green xi. 107 Some eight or ten miserable beings who were..supplied with..large sheets of thin ‘scribble-paper’, on which they were struggling to impress their ideas.
1919 E. Myers Social Secretary iii. 64 The secretary may find that she will have a considerable amount of ‘scribble’ paper on hand if she tears off the unwritten sheets of all correspondence received, and clips them together.
2012 Warwick (Queensland) Daily News (Nexis) 13 June 6 The newsprint rolls are proving extremely popular with local schools and families on the hunt for scribble paper and the like for kids.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > writer or author > [noun] > humorous writer
comic1549
comedian1580
sarcast1654
scribble-wit1672
farce-writer1681
humorist1871
gag-writer1959
1672 W. Wycherley Love in Wood ii. i. 26 Lyd. But what is your Chamber-Wit or Scribble-Wit? Dap. He..searches all the Records of Wit, to compile a breviate of them for the use of Players [etc.].
1720 ‘H. Scribblewit’ Let. Student in Grub-St. 48 Your sincere Friend, And humble Servant, Humphry Scribblewit.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scribblev.2
/ˈskrɪbl/, U.S. /ˈskrɪb(ə)l/, Scottish English /ˈskrɪbl/α. 1700s– scribble; also Scottish pre-1700 1700s scrible.
β. Scottish pre-1700 1700s scruble, 1700s scroble, 1700s scrubble.
Originally Scottish. Now historical.
transitive. To card (wool) coarsely. In later use: to prepare (wool) for carding, roughly combing and separating the fibres, esp. by means of a scribbler (scribbler n.2 2). Frequently in passive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing wool > treat or process wool [verb (transitive)] > comb or tease
break1511
touse1599
carminate1604
tum1615
scribble1681
stock-card1728
straighten1886
1681 in W. R. Scott Rec. Sc. Cloth Manufactory New Mills (1905) Introd. p. lxxxvii Item for scribling the wooll [etc.].
1683 Repr. Advantages Manuf. Woollen-cloath 7 The best superfine Spanish Cloath..doth not require of Spanish Wool undressed, scribled or washed, two pounds and a half.
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 106 At Gallowshiels are made a few coarse Kerseys,..and was their Wooll better scribled,..they might serve in place of the lowest-pric'd York-shires.
1762 J. Long Golden Fleece 12 When the Wool is scribbled, it is dispersed round the Neighbourhood, by the Clothier's Servants, in Order to have it spun.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 181 The wool having been scribbled in the ordinary way.
1853 G. Ibberson Woollen Manufacturer's & Overlooker's Guide 11 These cylinders must be set or adjusted..so as to work and scribble the wool to perfection.
1910 Textile Amer. Feb. 21/2 If the wool be not..properly scribbled and carded and delivered to the spinner in the form of perfect condenser slivers.
1973 K. G. Ponting in N. B. Harte & K. G. Ponting Textile Hist. & Econ. Hist. vii. 172 Here the wool was scribbled and carded, and slubbings were produced on the billy.
2013 M. A. Žmolek Rethinking Industr. Revol. xi. 580 By 1801, the number of water- or steam-powered mills for scribbling wool in Yorkshire had grown from 26 in 1790 to 243.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1577
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