scrawl
scrawl
verb (scrawls, scrawled, scrawled, scrawling)
/skrɔːl/
transitive, intransitive
​to write something in a careless untidy way, making it difficult to read
SYNONYM scribble
scrawl something (across/in/on/over something)
I tried to read his directions, scrawled on a piece of paper.
scrawl across/in/on/over something
Someone had scrawled all over my notes.
Collocations
object
graffiti
signature
word
Word Origin
early 17th cent.: apparently an alteration of the verb crawl, perhaps influenced by obsolete scrawl ‘sprawl’.