scrab

S1C3R1A1B3
/skɹæb/

verb

To scrape or scratch.

OriginOld French schrabben ← Frankish *skaban ← Proto-Germanic *skabaną →
Scrabble 9
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Meanings

scrab1

verbscrab (third-person singular simple present scrabs, present participle scrabbing, simple past and past participle scrabbed)

present singular third person scrabs · participle present scrabbing · participle past scrabbed · past scrabbed

  1. transitiveTo scrape or scratch.

scrab2

nounscrab (plural scrabs)

plural scrabs

  1. A crabapple.

Origin

scrab · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*skabʰ-“to scratch”
  2. Proto-Germanic*skabaną
  3. Frankish*skaban
  4. Old Frenchschrabben“to scrape, scratch”
  5. Englishscrab

From Middle French and Old French schrabben (“to scrape, scratch”), from Frankish *skaban, from Proto-Germanic *skabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to scratch”); compare Old High German skaban, Irish scríobann and sgrìoban.

More words from Old French, Frankish, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

scrab · noun

  1. Middle Englishscrabbe
  2. Englishscrab

From Middle English scrabbe, variant of crabbe (“crabapple”); ultimately of Germanic origin, plausibly from North Germanic, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba, krabbäpple.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with scrab

lababtabcabgrabfabslabdabstababbnabgabjabbabdrabcollabBabbblabvabflabshabknabniqabpoor dab
All rhymes →

Anagrams

crabs
Cite this entry
APA

scrab. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrab

MLA

“scrab.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrab. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scrab,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scrab.

Source: scrab on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.