Link Centre Dictionary

scramble

UK/ˈskɹæmbl̩/ US/ˈskræmbʌl/ fairly common uk
verb (5) noun (2)

verb

1.

to move hurriedly

  • “The friend scrambled after them”
2.
3.
4.

stir vigorously

  • “beat the egg whites”
  • “beat the cream”
Synonyms
5.

make unintelligible

  • “scramble the message so that nobody can understand it”
Antonyms

noun

1.
2.

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • ice scramble
  • scramble band
  • scramble competition
  • scramble crossing
  • scramble dinner
  • scramble net
  • scramble up
  • scrambled eggs

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.