scramble
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈskɹæmbl̩/
rhymes: -æmbəl
Forms: form: scrambles
Etymology: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: a last-minute scramble to the finish line
glosses: A rush or hurry, especially making use of the limbs against a surface.
examples: text: 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.
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: An emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft.
glosses: A motocross race.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2011 January 8, Chris Bevan, “Arsenal 1 – 1 Leeds”, in BBC Sport:
text: [I]n the 575 days since [Oscar] Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there has been an unseemly scramble to construct revisionist histories, to identify evidence beneath that placid exterior of a pugnacious, hair-trigger personality.
ref: 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):
glosses: Any frantic period of competitive activity.
qualifier: gridiron football
glosses: An impromptu maneuver or run by a quarterback, attempting to gain yardage or avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
topics: golf
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: 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.
topics: golf
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Near-synonym: hash
text: The diner's menu features "the farmer's scramble" (under all-day breakfast) and "the fisherman's fricassee" (under dinner entrees).
glosses: A dish (meal) involving scrambled eggs and a hodgepodge of complementary ingredients, usually closer to a casserole than to an omelette.
glosses: A venue where enslaved people were auctioned during the Atlantic slave trade.
Hyponyms: hare scramble
kick bollocks scramble
lolly scramble
pedestrian scramble
Scramble for Africa
time scramble
tofu scramble
Derived terms: ice scramble
scramble competition
scramble crossing
scramble dinner
scramble net
Related terms: sortie