different between scrawl vs scrawling

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk???l/

Etymology 1

Possibly from Middle English scraulen (“to spread out one's limbs; sprawl”), itself an alteration of spraulen (“to sprawl”) or craulen, crawlen (“to crawl”).

Alternatively, from scrall, a contraction of scrabble.

Noun

scrawl (countable and uncountable, plural scrawls)

1. Irregular, possibly illegible handwriting.
2. A hastily or carelessly written note etc.
3. Writing that lacks literary merit.
4. (countable, uncommon) A broken branch of a tree.
5. (uncommon) The young of the dog-crab.

Translations

Verb

scrawl (third-person singular simple present scrawls, present participle scrawling, simple past and past participle scrawled)

1. (transitive) To write something hastily or illegibly.
2. (intransitive) To write in an irregular or illegible manner.
3. (intransitive) To write unskilfully and inelegantly.
   • c. 1710-1730, Jonathan Swift (probably), Sandys's Ghost

     Though with a golden pen you scrawl.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English scraulen (“to crawl”), itself an alteration of crawlen (“to crawl”). More at crawl.

Verb

scrawl (third-person singular simple present scrawls, present participle scrawling, simple past and past participle scrawled)

1. To creep; crawl; (by extension) to swarm with crawling things
   • November 9, 1550, Hugh Latimer, A Sermon preached at Stamford

     we will scrape and scrawl, and catch and pull to us all that we may get

References

scrawl in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• crawls

English

Verb

scrawling

1. present participle of scrawl

Noun

scrawling (plural scrawlings)

1. Something scrawled.

   The teacher squinted irritably at my illegible scrawlings.

Anagrams

• claw rings, crawlings