scramble
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
scramble
- /ˈskɹæmbl̩/
Rhymes with -æmbəl
Where it comes from
Origin uncertain. Perhaps from earlier dialectal scramble, scrammel (“to collect or rake together with the hands”), from scramb (“to pull or scrape together with the hands”) + -le (frequentative suffix) (compare Dutch schrammen (“to graze, brush, scratch”)); or alternatively from a nasalised form of scrabble (“to scrape or scratch quickly”).
verb scrambles · scrambling · scrambled
- To move hurriedly to a location, especially by using all limbs against a surface. As half-time approached Fabregas had another chance to give Barcelona the lead. He collected an incisive Messi pass and this time beat Cech, who required Cole to scramble back and clear the ball off the line.
- To proceed to a location or an objective in a disorderly manner.
- To thoroughly combine and cook as a loose mass. I scrambled some eggs with spinach and cheese.
- To process telecommunication signals to make them unintelligible to an unauthorized listener.
- To mix up, to confuse, to mislead. I don't understand this at all. First, Paige made out with me in the art room, but then she wouldn't hold my hand even though she's the one who came up with the hand-holding rule in the first place, months ago. / Ahh, tale as old as time, beautiful vixen using her wiles to scramble your brains.
- To quickly deploy (vehicles, usually aircraft) to a destination in response to an alert, usually to intercept an attacking enemy. But on April 13 it 'scrambled' a rake of Mk 2s and dual-braked 'Black 5' 45212 to start its lucrative summer money-spinner two days later.
- To be quickly deployed in this manner. As the planes scrambled, four of his veterans went up: Tom Lanphier, Rex Barber, Joe Moore and Jim McLanahan. They had waited with other Lightnings at 30,000 feet and dived on a formation of eleven Zeroes far below, working in pairs.
- To partake in motocross.
- To ascend rocky terrain as a leisure activity. Seeing some of Britain's most beautiful waterfalls, rivers and pools from the most absurd angles as you scramble your way either up or down a mountain river course.
- To gather or collect by scrambling. They say we are a scatter'd nation: / I cannot tell, but we have scrambled up / More wealth by far than those that brag of faith.
- To struggle eagerly with others for something thrown upon the ground; to go down upon all fours to seize something; to catch rudely at what is desired. Of other care they little reck'ning make, / Then how to ſcramble at the ſhearers feaſt,
- To throw something down for others to compete for in this manner. […] Father Boniface standing on the verandah of the Monastery on a Sunday afternoon “scrambling” lollies to the kids […]
- To permute parts of a twisty puzzle (especially, Rubik's Cube) until it is ready to be solved from scratch.
noun scrambles
- A rush or hurry, especially making use of the limbs against a surface. a last-minute scramble to the finish line
- An emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft. 1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave. There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.
- A motocross race.
- Any frantic period of competitive activity. And the Leeds defence, led by the impressive Alex Bruce, was also in determined mood. Jonathan Howson had to clear a Sebastien Squillaci effort off his line and Becchio was also in the right place to hack clear after a goalmouth scramble.
- An impromptu maneuver or run by a quarterback, attempting to gain yardage or avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
- A statistic used in assessing a player's short game, consisting of a chip or putt from under 50 yards away that results in requiring one putt or less on the green.
- A variant of golf in which each player in a team tees off on each hole, and the players decide which shot was best. Every player then plays their second shot from within a club length of where the best ball has come to rest, and the procedure is repeated until the hole is finished.
- A dish (meal) involving scrambled eggs and a hodgepodge of complementary ingredients, usually closer to a casserole than to an omelette. Near-synonym: hash
- A venue where enslaved people were auctioned during the Atlantic slave trade.
interjection
- Shouted when something desirable is thrown into a group of people who individually want that item, causing them to rush for it.
