scrawl

Like other chimpanzees at the centre, Ai would scrawl marker pens over blank paper without having to be motivated by food rewards.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026

Managers can issue warnings to baristas who repeatedly write on customer cups ahead of time, scrawl something inappropriate or fail to use a Sharpie, according to internal guidance on the mandate to Starbucks stores.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2025

You’d scrawl your signature on each of the 25 cards, stuff them into their flimsy red envelopes and address them, painstakingly, to each member of your class.

From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2024

On a night in mid-January, Isla Lester, a server at the Greek restaurant, took a few moments between customers to scrawl out the letters K-A-Y-L-E-E in orange marker on the side of a fresh candle.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 14, 2023

He recognized the untidy scrawl on the brown paper at once: this was from Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

Fun fact: Humanity’s first known scrawls were made by accountants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

By the end of October, the prime minister's frustration is obvious in the long note he scrawls at the end of a Covid briefing document marked OFFICIAL/SENSITIVE.

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2025

“No Surprises Here Robin Is an Expert” one of her journal scrawls declares.

From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2023

“I’m writing because when I telephoned, you just hung up on me,” Andy scrawls to a miffed Melissa at some point in their college years.

From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023

It was full of scribbles and scrawls that were not of any language the magistrate knew of.

From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin

BENTON, Ky.—“There are two sides of me,” Brian McClain scrawled on a piece of paper to his wife.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

Before he was an international sports mogul, he was Enos Stanley Kroenke from rural Missouri with sporting heritage scrawled right on his birth certificate—his namesakes were St. Louis Cardinals legends Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Looking at his police file, I can hardly read the signature over his statement; his name is illegible, scrawled and messy, like that of a boy.

From Slate ● May 12, 2026

Victors went beyond checking off a list of hastily scrawled names to thanking entire categories of people: women, ancestors, Koreans, audiences.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026

Some random cute girl from another school brings him water with her number scrawled on the cup, and he sees SJ slip it in the garbage when she thinks he’s not looking.

From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone

Earlier this year, Meta announced a multibillion-dollar cable project named Waterworth, which will connect the U.S. to South Africa, India and Australia, scrawling a 31,000-mile letter W on the face of the planet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025

He’d been accused of scrawling “No to war!” on a building.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2024

“Math requires focus and sleep,” Mr. Galal told the students through a microphone, scrawling equations on a whiteboard.

From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2023

Wembanyama cheerfully signed autographs, scrawling his name onto basketballs and Spurs jerseys — some even with his name already on the back — before making his way into a waiting vehicle.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 19, 2023

And Margo is sitting in that corner, scrawling in her black notebook.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green