| 释义 |
▪ I. scramble, n.|ˈskræmb(ə)l|
[f. scramble v.]
1. A struggle with others for something or a share of something; hence, an indecorous struggle, a confused or disorderly proceeding.
1674Essex Papers (1892) I. 201 The Truth is, y⊇ Lands of Ireland have bin a meer scramble, & y⊇ least done by way of orderly distribution of them as perhaps hath ever been known. 1687Wood Life 5 Sept. (O.H.S.) III. 237 His majesty..seeing the people begin to scramble after the victualls..he stood still to see the beginning of the scramble. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables I. ccclxxv. 347 Somebody threw a Handful of Apples among them, that set them presently together by the Ears upon the Scramble. 1745in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 21 He declined making purchases in land, that by leaving what he had in money, the scramble might be made the easier among those that came after him. 1788A. Falconbridge Acc. Slave Trade 33 Sometimes the mode of disposal [of slaves] is that of selling them by what is termed a scramble... The negroes were..placed together in a large yard,..the doors of the yard were suddenly thrown open, and in rushed a considerable number of purchasers..[who] seized such of the negroes as they could..lay hold of. 1839Carlyle Chartism iii. (1858) 12 The arrangements of good and ill success in this perplexed scramble of a world. 1839Dk. Wellington Let. 12 Nov. in Croker Papers (1884), It is probable that Lord Melbourne's Government..will..give us a better chance of tranquility than a Government formed by a scramble of Tories! 1860C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret ii. (1880) 191 Lessons were always rather a scramble. 1870Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. (1873) 107 That scramble after undefined and indefinable rights which ends always in despotism. 1907Ld. Curzon Frontiers 8 But the scramble for new lands..will become less acute as there is less territory to be absorbed.
2. a. An act of scrambling or struggling progression; a scrambling journey.
1755Johnson, Scramble... 2. Act of climbing by the help of the hands. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xli, A scramble of five miles brought us to the eastern end of the valley. 1865G. Macdonald Alex. Forbes viii, The rats made one frantic scramble and were still. 1873Hale In His Name i, Félicie liked nothing better than a brisk scramble to the top.
b. A motor-cycle race across rough and hilly ground.
1926in H. Golding Wonder Bk. of Motors 177 Such races as the ‘T.T.’ and the various other Trials and ‘Scrambles’ organized by the larger clubs afford manufacturers an opportunity of submitting their machines..to..severe tests. 1935Encycl. Sports 539/2 Scramble, form of motor⁓cycle trial in which the competitors..traverse a course marked out over moorland or heath... Among a certain section of motor cyclists scramble events are very popular. 1959New Statesman 14 Nov. 658/1 About 50,000 people now turn out every week to watch the dozen or so scrambles organised throughout the country. 1969Daily Tel. 25 Oct. 8/8 A scramble can best be described as a motorised form of a cross-country race over a short, rough course sometimes reserved for the purpose and often adjacent to a road-racing circuit. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xi. 213 The motor-cycle scramble had arrived.
c. Mil. slang. A rapid or operational take-off by a group of aircraft. Cf. sense 4 of the vb.
1940G. Barclay Diary 2 Sept. in Fighter Pilot (1976) 44, I came on the state after this scrap and we had three scrambles. [1954I. Jones Tiger Squadron xxii. 228 To Sailor's dismay, his scramble order had not been received quickly enough.] 1957G. Wallace R.A.F. Biggin Hill xi. 139 Three scrambles a day were common, often more. 1963Times 11 June 7/1 The royal visitors watched a ‘scramble’ of four R.A.F. Vulcan bombers of the quick-reaction alert force. 1969P. Richey Fighter Pilot p. xii, He wanted to publish it if I would finish it. I did so..in the evenings after a day spent instructing on fighters in Gloucestershire and, later, between ‘scrambles’ and fighter sweeps. 1976Derbyshire Times (Peak ed.) 3 Sept. 24/4 Featured in the spectacular flying display will be a scramble (operational take-off) by a pair of Vulcan bombers.
d. U.S. Football. An impromptu movement by a quarterback to evade tacklers. Cf. sense 1 d of the vb.
1971Tarkenton & Yates Broken Patterns 52 Naturally the scramble plays were the most spectacular. 1972J. Mosedale Football vi. 89 A man who played as though he invented the scramble.
3. Cookery. A dish composed of hastily-mixed ingredients; an informal meal of such dishes. Cf. scrambling ppl. a. 1.
1893Yonge & Coleridge Strolling Players xxii. 187 Selva's Irish hospitality could allow no one to depart in the rain, and her Irish happy-go-luckiness saw nothing to be ashamed of in a scramble. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 42 Some of the ladies of the district, deeming the short cut to a poor man's soul was through his vitals, invited them to a free ‘muffin scramble’. 1938E. Waugh Scoop i. i. 18 The recipe for a dish named ‘Waffle Scramble’. 1958Woman's Own 17 Sept. 15/1 Halve the rolls... Fill with the tuna scramble.
4. Comb., as scramble net Naut., a heavy net down which persons may climb from a ship in an emergency; also in gen. use, the webbing of a child's climbing frame.
1944Amer. Speech XIX. 106 The scramble net (a new term in this war; it is an oversize cargo net hung over the side in times of imminent peril as an aid to getting down to water level without breaking your back). 1948A. Baron From City from Plough 134 Sailors pulled at cords and the wet scramble nets thumped over the sides. 1953Physical Educ. in Primary School (Min. of Educ.) II. vi. 32 (caption) Infants using a scramble net which is supported on a fixed tubular metal frame. 1976Outdoor Living (N.Z.) I. ii. 49 (caption) Other attachments, such as a scramble net could be put on the frame as children outgrow the present equipment. 1979‘G. Black’ Night Run from Java xiii. 162 The patrol boat crew [was] going down the scramble net into the lifeboat.
▪ II. scramble, v.|ˈskræmb(ə)l|
[Of obscure origin; first recorded late in the 16th c. Cf. dial. scramb, scrame ‘to pull or take together with the hands’ (Hutton Tour to Caves, ed. 2, 1781), also scrawm, scamble, and cramble vbs.]
1. a. intr. To raise oneself to an erect posture, to get through or into a place or position, by the struggling use of the hands and feet; hence, to make one's way by clambering, crawling, jumping, etc. over difficult ground or through obstructions. Cf. scamble v. 4.
a1586Sidney Arcadia ii. (Sommer) 221 The cowardly wretch fell down, crying for succour, & (scrambling through the legs of them that were about him) gat to the throne. Ibid. iii. 320 But Amphialus scrambled vp againe. 1614J. Taylor (Water P.) Water-worke Ded., But if you will not assist me, I will attend the next hightide, & scramble vp into Pauls Church-yard. 1619Fletcher M. Thomas i. iii, Dor... I know she loves him. Alice. Yes, and will not lose him, Unless he leap into the Moon,..And then she'l scramble too. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 132 My Master & my Mistrisse..scrambled (as well as they could) to bed [after a drinking-bout]. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 67 We..then scrambled up a very high and steep hill. 1740Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 52 In this alarm our troops scrambled to arms. 1772Pennant Tours in Scot. (1774) 339 The height was taken by a little boy, who scrambled to the top. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 117 Sometimes they scrambled from rock to rock, up the bed of some mountain stream. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 181, I hardly, with slow steps,..and much exceeding pain, Have scrambled past those pits of fire. 1855Browning Fra Lippo 65 There was a ladder! Down I let myself, Hands and feet, scrambling somehow. 1877Owen Desp. Wellington p. xxvi, Lake's..over-confident attempts to scramble into Bhurtpore without proper appliances.
b. transf. and fig.
1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 180 Girolamo Farnese..has made a shift, without any Foreign assistance, to scramble into several Honours. 1785Cowper Tiroc. 125 Lisping our syllables, we scramble next, Through moral narrative, or sacred text. 1863Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. xvi. 411 He is a fellow who will scramble through the world with a light heart. 1879M. E. Braddon Vixen i, He had only time to scramble through a hurried toilet. 1900E. Glyn Vis. Elizabeth (1906) 93, I had not even scrambled into my clothes when the clock struck five.
quasi-refl. (with complement).1815Jane Austen Emma iii, A..boarding-school,..where girls might be sent to be out of the way, and scramble themselves into a little education.
c. trans. To collect or gather up hastily or in disorder; also, to cause (a crowd) to move in hurried confusion. Also (freq. with advbs.), to cause (something) to move in the direction or manner indicated without proper control; to deal with hastily or ill-advisedly.
1822M. A. Kelty Osmond I. 214 She had scrambled the boy's nine-pins into a bag. 1833T. Hook Love & Pride xi, He hastily scrambled up the papers. 1853Lytton My Novel viii. v, Juliet, scrambling up her hair, darted into the house. 1859Sala Gaslight & D. xxix. 339 These poor wretches have been scrambling and scraping their passage-money together for months. 1869Punch 3 July 270/2 One ‘Lord Hamilton’ who had been scrambling away his money, at a low public in Shadwell. 1898Westm. Gaz. 9 Nov. 7/1 There is no earthly reason for rushing and scrambling the crowds into tight-fitting places. 1911Q. Rev. July 218 Amendments hastily scrambled through committee in a House of Commons. 1931Times 28 Feb. 4 The putter scrambled the ball in from a foot away. 1976Oadby & Wigston (Leics.) Advertiser 26 Nov. 15/1 His shot hit the bar, and eventually Snee and his defence scrambled the ball free.
d. intr. U.S. Football. (See quot. 1976.)
1964Birmingham (Alabama) News 26 Oct. 20/1 Campbell had to scramble to get off passes to Jimmy Martin, Scotty Long or Ronnie Baynes. 1968N.Y. Times 13 Aug. 31 It was Tarkenton who engineered this monumental upheaval, mainly because he bewildered the Packers with his scrambling. 1976Webster's Sports Dict. 373/2 Scramble,..of a football quarterback, to run around behind the line of scrimmage dodging would-be tacklers after initial pass protection has broken down before passing or running.
2. a. intr. To strive or struggle with others for mastery; to contend with a crowd for a share of food, coin, wealth, etc. Cf. scamble v. 1.
c1590A. Gorges Let. to R. Cecil in P. F. Tytler Life Raleigh (1833) 132 At the first I was ready to break with laughing to see them two scramble and brawl like madmen. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1289 Many of them, in scrambling for the money that was cast abroad,..having their hands and fingers cut off. 1637Milton Lycidas 116 Of other care they little reck'ning make, Then how to scramble at the shearers feast, And shove away the worthy bidden guest. 1692Ray Creation ii. (ed. 2) 56 Had we wanted this Member [sc. the hand] in our Bodies, we must have lived..without any Artificial..Meats; but must have scrambled with the wild Beasts for Crabs and Nuts. 1696Brookhouse Temple Opened 33 The Servants of God were not left to scramble for their Livings. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 205 When we are got out [into the world], and left to scramble for ourselves, how many hardships and tricks are put upon us. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. 1808 V. 77 Which exposed their sure inheritance to be scrambled for and torn to pieces by every wild litigious spirit. 1848W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 549 Princes..were seen scrambling for lucre with footmen and prostitutes. 1862Lady Duff-Gordon in F. Galton Vac. Tourists (1864) 163 He..amused himself by making the little blackies scramble for halfpence in the pools left in the bed of the river.
b. trans. To contend or struggle with others for (a share of something distributed); hence, to seize rapaciously or unscrupulously.
1647R. Stapylton Juvenal 5 A little basket now before the doore They set forth, to be scrambled by the poore. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 126 His [the king's] revocation..of such things as had been depredated and scrambled away from the Crown in his Father's minority. 1656Osborn Adv. Son 27 The meanest; who have the impudence to scramble up any thing that suits to their advantage.
c. To scatter (money, etc.) to be scrambled for.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 563/2 And then they scrambles money between us. 1875New Q. Rev. Oct. 202 A fairy princess,..who scrambles the diamonds to the crowd.
3. a. To cook (eggs) in the manner called ‘scrambled’.
1864in Webster. 1903Munsey's Mag. XXIX. 247 She scrambled eggs and bacon, and ate them.
b. fig. To jumble or muddle (something).
1927G. Ade et al. Let. 4 Mar. (1973) 118 When you are in the native quarter [of Algiers] you can well imagine you are in the Old Testament which has been scrambled, stood on edge and saturated with all the disagreeable odors in the world. 1950Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Jan. 55/4 The characters have been ‘scrambled’ so that none shall be recognizable. 1962Listener 5 Apr. 603/1 The different arts are being run together and the borders of art and nature are being scrambled. 1977Time 10 Jan. 43/1 Their landing permits had been deliberately scrambled by the Cuban government in league with the Nazis, who wanted the ship to sail from port to port searching for asylum.
c. To make (a telephone or radio signal of a voice) unintelligible by means of a scrambler (see scrambler 3 a); to render (a television transmission) usable only by a subscriber equipped with a suitable unscrambling device. Also transf. and absol.
1927Gen. Electr. Rev. XXX. 84/2 A Hammond multiplex system may be used with seven intermediate carrier waves which are scrambled and sent out by a single transmitter and then unscrambled at the receiving station so that each controls one of the seven light beams. 1929Times 9 Nov. 12/2 An improved means for ensuring the secrecy of radio⁓telephonic conversations by ‘scrambling’ the words of the message—that is, by changing high frequencies to low frequencies and vice versa, so that the conversation is completely unintelligible until the ‘inverted’ conversation has been retranslated. 1949F. Maclean Eastern Approaches iii. xii. 445 When we resumed our conversation [on the telephone], the Prime Minister was off on a new tack. ‘Shall we scramble?’ he said gaily. I replied that I thought I was scrambled. 1955Times 4 June 6/6 All three work on the principle of a device attached to the subscriber's television set which ‘scrambles’ the programmes to be televised until a fee is paid to unscramble them. 1959E. H. Clements High Tension v. 74, I was beginning to wonder..whether we ought to scramble the telephone. 1978G. Greene Human Factor ii. iv. 89 There was the usual confusion: one of them pressing the right button too soon and then going back to normal transmission just when the other scrambled.
4. Mil. slang.
a. intr. Of an aircraft (as a fighter plane, etc.) or crew: to effect a rapid take-off; to become airborne quickly. orig. R.A.F.
1940G. Barclay Diary 2 Sept. in Fighter Pilot (1976) 44 The squadron scrambled and intercepted some Do215s and Me110s. 1941[see angel v. 2]. 1942Brennan & Hesselyn Spitfires over Malta 15 The signal to scramble came at about eleven o'clock... We rushed to our aircraft and in less than two minutes were off the ground. 1944Daily Tel. 15 May 5/3 Hardly were they past the carrier than two Corsairs ‘scrambled’ off the deck to ‘intercept an enemy plane’. 1952Times 22 Feb. 6/4 A red Very light was fired as a warning to the pilots to ‘scramble’, and exactly 80 seconds later the first fighter was in the air. 1962R. W. Clark Rise of Boffins ii. 53 Another great time-saver was the use of a code for passing instructions to the fighters, and such R.A.F. terms as ‘scramble’ (for take-off)..were invented during these experiments [on radar interception, 1936]. 1977R.A.F. News 5–18 Jan. 1/1 A Wessex SAR helicopter of 22 Squadron's E flight was scrambling from Manston.
b. trans. To cause (an aircraft) to become airborne quickly.
1940G. Barclay Diary 3 Sept. in Fighter Pilot (1976) 46 The squadron was off the ground which was the main thing, but they were scrambled too late to intercept. 1953Sun (Baltimore) 18 Sept. 2/2 Col. Richard T. Hernlund..showed reporters he could ‘scramble’ the interceptors and get them into the air almost instantly. 1971Daily Tel. 20 July 8/7 The final decision to scramble fighters or launch nuclear missiles is..made by..highly trained officers. 1975Radio Times 14 Aug. 38/1 A call to the coastguard and the nearest rescue helicopter can be scrambled within seconds. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xli. 383 It was clear that their technique was to ‘scramble’ their fighters on a raid warning and instruct them to orbit one of a number of visual and radio beacons. 1981Times 9 June 6/8 The Iraqis..gave no indication whether Iraqi jet fighters had been scrambled in an attempt to shoot down the Israeli planes.
5. Comb., as scramble button, a button which activates a scrambler (sense 3 a) when pressed.
1962L. Deighton Ipcress File xxx. 194 The wall phone rang... I saw Jay push the ‘scramble’ button. |