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scrawl out

B2 informal separable transitive
In simple words

To write something, but in such a messy way that it is hard to read.

Literal meaning: To scrawl (write messily) something out (producing it completely).

Meanings

1 B2 informal

To write something in illegible, messy handwriting.

"The doctor scrawled out a prescription that the pharmacist could barely decipher."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Slightly more emphatic than simply 'scrawl' — the 'out' particle implies completing the act of writing something in full, however poorly. Common in narrative writing to describe a character's handwriting.

Commonly used with

name signature message note address instructions

Forms

Base
scrawl out
I/you/we/they
3rd person
scrawls out
he/she/it
Past simple
scrawled out
yesterday
Past participle
scrawled out
have + pp
-ing form
scrawling out
continuous

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Synonyms

scribble out write out scratch out dash out jot out

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