scramblen.
/ˈskramb(ə)l/ 1. A struggle with others for something or a share of something; hence, an indecorous struggle, a confused or disorderly proceeding.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > [noun] > a fight > for something shared out
scamble1609
scramble1663
1663 R. Southwell Let. 11 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1965) II. 22 This Country Ireland is a meere scramble, and the belle maniere is not knowne.
1674 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 201 The Truth is, ye Lands of Ireland have bin a meer scramble, & ye least done by way of orderly distribution of them as perhaps hath ever been known.
1687 A. Wood Life & Times (1894) III. 237 His majesty..seeing the people begin to scramble after the victualls..he stood still to see the beginning of the scramble.
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccclxxv. 347 Somebody threw a Handful of Apples among them, that set them presently together by the Ears upon the Scramble.
1745 in 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.
1788 A. Falconbridge Acct. 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.
1839 T. Carlyle Chartism iii. 18 The arrangements of good and ill success in this perplexed scramble of a world.
1839 Duke of Wellington Let. 12 Nov. in Croker Papers (1884) II 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!
1861 C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret ii. 20 Lessons were always rather a scramble.
1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 2nd Ser. 107 That scramble after undefined and indefinable rights which ends always in despotism.
1907 Ld. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > [noun] > scrambling
scramble1755
scrambling1819
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Scramble... 2. Act of climbing by the help of the hands.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. xviii. 287 A scramble of five miles brought us to the eastern end of the valley.
1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes I. viii. 52 The rats made one frantic scramble, and were still.
1873 E. E. Hale In his Name i Félicie liked nothing better than a brisk scramble to the top.
b. A motorcycle race across rough and hilly ground.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > racing with vehicles > motorcycle racing or race > [noun]
scramble1926
speedway1930
motocross1951
scrambling1959
motorcross1960
moto1971
supercross1975
main1980
1926 in 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.
1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 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.
1959 New 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.
1969 Daily 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. Military slang. A rapid or operational take-off by a group of aircraft. Cf. scramble v. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > [noun] > air operation > rapid take-off
scramble1940
scrambling1955
1940 G. Barclay Diary 2 Sept. in Fighter Pilot (1976) 44 I came on the state after this scrap and we had three scrambles.
1954 I. Jones Tiger Squadron xxii. 228 To Sailor's dismay, his scramble order had not been received quickly enough.]
1957 G. Wallace R.A.F. Biggin Hill xi. 139 Three scrambles a day were common, often more.
1963 Times 11 June 7/1 The royal visitors watched a ‘scramble’ of four R.A.F. Vulcan bombers of the quick-reaction alert force.
1969 P. 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.
1976 Derbyshire Times 3 Sept. (Peak ed.) 24/4 Featured in the spectacular flying display will be a scramble (operational take-off) by a pair of Vulcan bombers.
d. American Football. An impromptu movement by a quarterback to evade tacklers. Cf. sense 1d of the verb.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > [noun] > actions or manoeuvres
rush1857
punt-out1861
goal-kicking1871
safety1879
safety touchdown1879
scrimmage1880
rushing1882
safety touch1884
touchback1884
forward pass1890
run1890
blocking1891
signal1891
fake1893
onside kick1895
tandem-play1895
pass play1896
spiral1896
shift1901
end run1902
straight-arm1903
quarterback sneak1904
runback1905
roughing1906
Minnesota shift1910
quarterbacking1910
snap-back1910
pickoff1912
punt return1914
screen forward pass1915
screen pass1920
power play1921
sneak1921
passback1922
snap1922
defence1923
reverse1924
carry1927
lateral1927
stiff-arm1927
zone1927
zone defence1927
submarine charge1928
squib1929
block1931
pass rushing1933
safetying1933
trap play1933
end-around1934
straight-arming1934
trap1935
mousetrap1936
buttonhook1938
blitzing1940
hand-off1940
pitchout1946
slant1947
strike1947
draw play1948
shovel pass1948
bootleg1949
option1950
red dog1950
red-dogging1951
rollout1951
submarine1952
sleeper pass1954
draw1956
bomb1960
swing pass1960
pass rush1962
blitz1963
spearing1964
onsides kick1965
takeaway1967
quarterback sack1968
smash-mouth1968
veer1968
turn-over1969
bump-and-run1970
scramble1971
sack1972
nose tackle1975
nickel1979
pressure1981
1971 Tarkenton & Yates Broken Patterns 52 Naturally the scramble plays were the most spectacular.
1972 J. 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 adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > dish of many ingredients > [noun]
rapé1381
jussel?c1390
hodgepotc1430
composta1475
olla1535
olla podrida1590
gallimaufry1591
pot-pourri1611
hodge-podge1622
olio1642
potrido1651
salmagundi1674
oil1706
Solomon-gundy1752
chow-chow1795
powsowdie1816
make-up1841
poor do1870
scramble1893
mulligan1898
pot mess1914
chow1926
katogo1940
panaché1961
1893 C. M. Yonge & C. R. 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.
1898 J. 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’.
1938 E. Waugh Scoop i. i. 18 The recipe for a dish named ‘Waffle Scramble’.
1958 Woman's Own 17 Sept. 15/1 Halve the rolls... Fill with the tuna scramble.
Compounds
scramble net n. Nautical 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.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > climbing frame
jungle gym1923
climbing frame1929
scramble net1944
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > net on ship's side for climbing off or on
scramble net1944
scrambling net1959
1944 Amer. Speech 19 106 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).
1948 A. Baron From City, from Plough 134 Sailors pulled at cords and the wet scramble nets thumped over the sides.
1953 Physical 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.
1976 Outdoor Living (N.Z.) 1 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.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
scramblev.
/ˈskramb(ə)l/ 1. quasi-refl. (with complement).1816 J. Austen Emma I. iii. 38 A..Boarding-school..where girls might be sent to be out of the way and scramble themselves into a little education. View more context for this quotation
a. intransitive. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > move along with hands and feet or with body prone [verb (intransitive)] > scramble
scrawl1530
sprawl1582
scramblea1586
scrabble1638
scrubblec1854
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. xxvii. sig. Ff5 The cowardly wretch fell down, crying for succour, & (scrambling through the legs of them that were about him) gat to the throne.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. xviii. sig. Ss8 But Amphialus scrambled vp againe.
1614 J. Taylor Water-worke Ded. But if you will not assist me, I will attend the next hightide, & scramble vp into Pauls Church-yard.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 132 My Master & my Mistrisse..scrambled (as well as they could) to bed [after a drinking-bout].
a1625 J. Fletcher Monsieur Thomas (1639) i. iii. sig. D4 Dor... I know she loves him. Alice. Yes, and will not loose him, Vnless he leap into the Moone,..And then shee'l scramble too.
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 67 We..then scrambled up a very high and steep hill.
1740 C. Cibber Apol. Life C. Cibber iii. 41 In this alarm our troops scrambled to arms.
1772 T. Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 339 The height was taken by a little boy, who scrambled to the top.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville II. 117 Sometimes they scrambled from rock to rock, up the bed of some mountain stream.
1842 Ld. Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites in Poems (new ed.) II. 61 I hardly, with slow steps..and much exceeding pain—Have scrambled past those pits of fire.
1855 R. Browning Fra Lippo Lippi in Men & Women I. 38 There was a ladder! down I let myself, Hands and feet, scrambling somehow.
1877 S. J. Owen in Marquess Wellesley Select. Despatches Introd. p. xxvi Lake's..over-confident attempts to scramble into Bhurtpore without proper appliances.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > move along with hands and feet or with body prone [verb (reflexive)] > scramble
scramble1670
the world > action or operation > difficulty > present difficulties [verb (intransitive)] > have difficulty > act or live through difficulties
scamblec1571
scramble1670
shift1723
manage1762
scrub1831
to struggle on1837
scratch1838
widdle1844
to worry along1871
to scrape along1884
to get by1908
scuffle1939
1670 G. Havers tr. G. Leti Il Cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa ii. iii. 180 Girolamo Farnese..has made a shift, without any Foreign assistance, to scramble into several Honours.
1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in Task 125 Lisping our syllables, we scramble next, Through moral narrative, or sacred text. View more context for this quotation
1863 C. C. Clarke Shakespeare-characters xvi. 411 He is a fellow who will scramble through the world with a light heart.
1879 M. E. Braddon Vixen i He had only time to scramble through a hurried toilet.
1900 E. Glyn Visits of Elizabeth (1906) 93 I had not even scrambled into my clothes when the clock struck five.
c. transitive. To collect or gather up hastily or in disorder; also, to cause (a crowd) to move in hurried confusion. Also (frequently with adverbs), to cause (something) to move in the direction or manner indicated without proper control; to deal with hastily or ill-advisedly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > hastily or haphazardly
ruffle1533
shuffle1570
scamble1577
scramble1822
scuffle1946
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > do, deal with, acquire, etc., quickly [verb (transitive)] > put, bring, etc., hastily > deal with hastily or ill-advisedly
scramble1869
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > move or cause to move swiftly in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > direct (one's way or steps) with haste > cause to move with haste > cause (crowd) to move in hurried confusion
scramble1898
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > cause to move in a direction [verb (transitive)] > without proper control
scramble1931
1822 M. A. Kelty Osmond I. 214 She had scrambled the boy's nine-pins into a bag.
1833 T. Hook Widow xi, in Love & Pride II. 25 He hastily scrambled up the papers.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel II. viii. v. 336 Juliet, scrambling up her hair, darted into the house.
1859 G. A. Sala Gaslight & Daylight xxix. 339 These poor wretches have been scrambling and scraping their passage-money together for months.
1869 Punch 3 July 270/2 One ‘Lord Hamilton’ who had been scrambling away his money, at a low public in Shadwell.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 9 Nov. 7/1 There is no earthly reason for rushing and scrambling the crowds into tight-fitting places.
1911 Q. Rev. July 218 Amendments hastily scrambled through committee in a House of Commons.
1931 Times 28 Feb. 4 The putter scrambled the ball in from a foot away.
1976 Oadby & Wigston (Leics.) Advertiser 26 Nov. 15/1 His shot hit the bar, and eventually Snee and his defence scrambled the ball free.
d. intransitive. American Football. (See quot. 1976.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > American football > play American football [verb (intransitive)] > actions or manoeuvres
rush1873
return1884
block1889
goal1900
drive1902
interfere1920
submarine1925
lateral1927
lateral1930
pull1933
to hand off1937
shovel pass1948
bootleg1951
scramble1964
spear1964
blitz1965
convert1970
1964 Birmingham (Alabama) News 26 Oct. 20/1 Campbell had to scramble to get off passes to Jimmy Martin, Scotty Long or Ronnie Baynes.
1968 N.Y. Times 13 Aug. 31 It was Tarkenton who engineered this monumental upheaval, mainly because he bewildered the Packers with his scrambling.
1976 Webster'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. intransitive. 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.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (intransitive)] > try to obtain > by struggling with others
scamble1539
scramblec1590
scrabble1697
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight [verb (intransitive)] > fight for something shared out
scamble1539
scramblec1590
grabble1888
society > society and the community > dissent > contention or strife > contend [verb (intransitive)]
winc888
fightc900
flitec900
wraxlec1000
wrestlea1200
cockc1225
conteckc1290
strivec1290
struta1300
topc1305
to have, hold, make, take strifec1374
stightlea1375
debatec1386
batea1400
strugglec1412
hurlc1440
ruffle1440
warc1460
warslea1500
pingle?a1513
contend1529
repugn1529
scruggle1530
sturtc1535
tuga1550
broilc1567
threap1572
yoke1581
bustle1585
bandy1594
tilt1595
combat1597
to go (also shake, try, wrestle) a fall1597
mutiny1597
militate1598
combatizec1600
scuffle1601
to run (or ride) a-tilt1608
wage1608
contesta1618
stickle1625
conflict1628
stickle1647
dispute1656
fence1665
contrast1672
scramble1696
to battle it1715
rug1832
grabble1835
buffet1839
tussle1862
pickeer1892
passage1895
tangle1928
c1590 A. 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.
1610 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes (ed. 2) 1289 Many of them, in scrambling for the money that was cast abroad,..hauing their hands and fingers cut off.
1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 23 in Justa Edouardo King Of other care they little reckoning make, Then how to scramble at the shearers feast, And shove away the worthy bidden guest.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 213 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.
1696 T. Brookhouse Temple Opened 33 The Servants of God were not left to scramble for their Livings.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature 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.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 46 Which exposed their sure inheritance to be scrambled for and torn to pieces by every wild litigious spirit. View more context for this quotation
1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc Hist. Ten Years II. 549 Princes..were seen scrambling for lucre with footmen and prostitutes.
1864 Lady Duff-Gordon in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1862–3 163 He..amused himself by making the little blackies scramble for halfpence in the pools left in the bed of the river.
b. transitive. To contend or struggle with others for (a share of something distributed); hence, to seize rapaciously or unscrupulously.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > endeavour to obtain > by struggling with others
scramble1647
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > seize [verb (transitive)] > unscrupulously or rapaciously
wipec1000
scamble1599
ruffle1608
scramble1647
grab1801
society > society and the community > dissent > fighting > fight with [verb (transitive)] > fight for (a share of something)
scramble1647
1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 5 A little basket now before the doore They set forth, to be scrambled by the poore.
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 126 His [the king's] revocation..of such things as had been depredated and scrambled away from the Crown in his Father's minority.
1655 F. Osborne Advice to 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.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being scattered or dispersed > scatter [verb (transitive)] > scatter broadcast > money or food for a crowd
scamble1573
scramble1861
1861 H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) II. 497/2 And then they scrambles money between us.
1875 New Q. Rev. Oct. 202 A fairy princess,..who scrambles the diamonds to the crowd.
3.
a. To cook (eggs) in the manner called ‘scrambled’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook [verb (transitive)] > cook specific food > eggs
poachc1450
tire1486
hard-boil1653
scramble1864
omelette1867
unscramble1926
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1903 Munsey's Mag. 29 247 She scrambled eggs and bacon, and ate them.
b. figurative. To jumble or muddle (something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > confuse or disorder [verb (transitive)]
disparplea1400
rufflea1400
mingle-mangle1549
confound1553
jumblea1575
barbulye1588
Babelize1600
embroil1603
puddlea1616
confuse1630
jargogle1692
mishmash1694
to make a mull of1821
inturbidatea1834
bedevil1844
to ball up1884
jazz1914
scramble1927
balls1947
1927 G. 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.
1950 Times Lit. Suppl. 27 Jan. 55/4 The characters have been ‘scrambled’ so that none shall be recognizable.
1962 Listener 5 Apr. 603/1 The different arts are being run together and the borders of art and nature are being scrambled.
1977 Time 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 n. 3a); to render (a television transmission) usable only by a subscriber equipped with a suitable unscrambling device. Also transferred and absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > [verb (transitive)] > scramble or unscramble
unscramble1923
scramble1927
descramble1944
1927 Gen. 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.
1929 Times 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.
1949 F. 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.
1955 Times 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.
1959 E. H. Clements High Tension v. 74 I was beginning to wonder..whether we ought to scramble the telephone.
1978 G. 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. Military slang.
a. intransitive. Of an aircraft (as a fighter plane, etc.) or crew: to effect a rapid take-off; to become airborne quickly. Originally R.A.F.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > attack with aircraft [verb (intransitive)] > effect rapid take-off
scramble1940
1940 G. Barclay Diary 2 Sept. in Fighter Pilot (1976) 44 The squadron scrambled and intercepted some Do215s and Me110s.
1941 Reader's Digest Feb. 54 The boys of Britain's R.A.F. have developed a language all their own. A fighter pilot is told to ‘scramble’, instead of take off; then he ‘angels upward’.
1942 P. Brennan et al. 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.
1944 Daily Tel. 15 May 5/3 Hardly were they past the carrier than two Corsairs ‘scrambled’ off the deck to ‘intercept an enemy plane’.
1952 Times 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.
1962 R. 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].
1977 R.A.F. News 5 Jan. 1/1 A Wessex SAR helicopter of 22 Squadron's E flight was scrambling from Manston.
b. transitive. To cause (an aircraft) to become airborne quickly.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > attack with aircraft [verb (transitive)] > cause to take off rapidly
scramble1940
1940 G. 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.
1953 Sun (Baltimore) 18 Sept. 2/2 Col. Richard T. Hernlund..showed reporters he could ‘scramble’ the interceptors and get them into the air almost instantly.
1971 Daily Tel. 20 July 8/7 The final decision to scramble fighters or launch nuclear missiles is..made by..highly trained officers.
1975 Radio Times 14 Aug. 38/1 A call to the coastguard and the nearest rescue helicopter can be scrambled within seconds.
1978 R. 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.
1981 Times 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.
Compounds
scramble button n. a button which activates a scrambler (sense 3a) when pressed.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > signal > rendering unintelligible > device for
scrambler1950
scramble button1962
1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File xxx. 194 The wall phone rang... I saw Jay push the ‘scramble’ button.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1663
v.a1586- imperceptively
- imperceptiveness
- imperceptivenesses
- imperceptivities
- imperceptivity
- imperch
- impercipience
- impercipiences
- impercipient
- impercussively
- imperdibility
- imperdible
- impere
- imperence
- imperent
- imperf
- imperfect
- imperfect concord
- imperfect consonance
- imperfect fungus
- imperfect information
- imperfect metal
- imperfect rhyme
- imperfect square
- imperfected