3 entries under this word
v. t. [imp. & p. p. SCRAWLED; p. pr. & vb. n. SCRAWLING.] [Cf. D. schravelen, scrafelen, to scratch or scrape; Eng. scrabble and crawl.] To draw or mark awkwardly and irregularly; to write hastily and carelessly; to scratch; to scribble; as, to scrawl a letter. “On the windows of which his name, scrawled by himself, is still read with interest.” Macaulay.
v. i. 1. To write unskillfully and inelegantly. “Though with a golden pen you scrawl.” Swift.
Sense 2. To creep; to crawl. [Obs.] We will scrape and scrawl, and catch and pull to us all that we may get. Latimer.
n. 1. Unskillful or inelegant writing; or a piece of hasty, bad writing.
You bid me write no more than a scrawl to you. Gray.
Sense 2. A ragged, broken branch of a tree, or other brush-wood; brush. [Local U. S.]
☞ This word is used in some of the United States for scroll. See SCROLL.