Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Origin: Perhaps from crawl, influenced by scrawl 'to lie carelessly' (14-19 centuries)

scrawl

1 verb
     
scrawl1 [transitive]
to write in a careless and untidy way, so that your words are not easy to read [↪ scribble]:
He scrawled his name at the bottom.
WORD FOCUS: write WORD FOCUS: write
quickly: jot down, dash off
in a way that is difficult to read: scribble, scrawl
write information on an official form: fill in/fill out
write a word correctly: spell
start to write: put pen to paper

➔ See also write
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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