- scram|ble
-
–v.i.1. to make one's way by climbing, crawling, or jumping: »
We scrambled up the steep, rocky hill.
2. to struggle with others for something: »The boys scrambled to get the football. Figurative. All those commuters rush to town to scramble for a living.
3. to get an aircraft into the air quickly to intercept unidentified aircraft: »You tumble out of bed…You are to scramble on a practice flight to intercept an “enemy” bomber (H. L. Hogan).
4. U.S. Football. to run with the ball without the protection of blockers: »[He] ... bewildered the Packers with his scrambling (New York Times).
–v.t.1. to collect or gather up in a hurry or without method: »Juliet, scrambling up her hair, darted into the house (Bulwer-Lytton).
2. to mix together in a confused way.3. to cook and stir (eggs) in a pan with the whites and yolks mixed together.4. to put (aircraft) into the air quickly to intercept unidentified aircraft: »Reservists…stood ready to scramble fighters aloft to intercept any unidentified planes (Time).
5. to break up or mix (a message, radio or television signal, or telephone message) so that it cannot be received and understood without special equipment: »The broadcasting is done by coding or scrambling the pictures so that the general public can't receive them unless they pay for a special device to unscramble the broadcast on their sets (Wall Street Journal).
–n.1. a climb or walk over rough ground: »It was a long scramble through bushes and over rocks to the top of the hill.
2. a struggle to possess: »Figurative. the scramble for wealth and power. Figurative. Politics is sometimes nothing but a scramble for office.
3. any disorderly struggle or activity; scrambling: »The pile of boys on the football seemed a wild scramble of arms and legs.
4. (in the Air Force) the act or process of scrambling: »If there's a scramble, you fly, regardless of weather (New Yorker).
╂[perhaps variant of scrabble]
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
