verb

• (intransitive) To scrape or scratch powerfully with hands or claws.
  "[…] there came no answer, except the echo of my own voice sounding hollow and far off down in the vault. So in despair I turned back to the earth wall below the slab, and scrabbled at it with my fingers, till my nails were broken and the blood ran out; having all the while a sure knowledge, like a cord twisted round my head, that no effort of mine could ever dislodge the great stone."
• (transitive) To gather hastily.
  "“Oh. The perfect ending to the perfect-- [chuckles] I almost said evening. More like months, though, isn't it? Since we started scrabbling for coins because the damn government took away our-- every thing. They took everything. And the only thing that was left, you idiots either lost, gave away, ate, or just blew up and sank.”"
• (intransitive) To move with difficulty by making rapid movements back and forth with the hands or paws.
  "She was on her hands and knees scrabbling in the mud, looking for her missing wedding ring."
• (intransitive) To scribble.
  "David […] scrabbled on the doors of the gate."