scrambled


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

scram·ble

 (skrăm′bəl)
v. scram·bled, scram·bling, scram·bles
v.intr.
1. To move or climb hurriedly, especially on the hands and knees.
2. To struggle or contend frantically in order to get something: scrambled for the best seats.
3. To take off with all possible haste, as to intercept enemy aircraft.
4. Football
a. To run around with the ball behind the line of scrimmage in order to avoid being tackled while searching for an open receiver.
b. To run forward with the ball when unable to complete an intended pass play. Used of a quarterback.
5. Linguistics To move to another position in a syntactic structure, as for emphasis. Used of phrases or other syntactic constituents.
v.tr.
1. To mix or throw together haphazardly.
2. To gather together in a hurried or disorderly fashion.
3. To cook (beaten eggs) until firm but with a soft consistency.
4. Electronics To distort or garble (a signal) so as to render it unintelligible without a special receiver.
5. To cause (aircraft) to take off as fast as possible, as to intercept enemy aircraft.
n.
1. The act or an instance of scrambling.
2. An arduous hike or climb over rough terrain.
3. A struggle for something: a scramble for new territory.
4. Sports See motocross.
5. A swift takeoff of military aircraft in response to an alert or attack.
[Perhaps blend of obsolete scamble, to struggle for, and dialectal cramble, to crawl.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.scrambled - thrown together in a disorderly fashion; "a scrambled plan of action"
disorganised, disorganized - lacking order or methodical arrangement or function; "a disorganized enterprise"; "a thousand pages of muddy and disorganized prose"; "she was too disorganized to be an agreeable roommate"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
We did not know what scrambled eggs were, and we fancied that it must be some Red Indian or Sandwich Islands sort of dish that required dances and incantations for its proper cooking.
Harris proposed that we should have scrambled eggs for breakfast.
View in context
Sometimes they scrambled from rock to rock, up the bed of some mountain stream, dashing its bright way down to the plains; sometimes they availed themselves of the paths made by the deer and the mountain sheep, which, however, often took them to the brinks of fearful precipices, or led to rugged defiles, impassable for their horses.
View in context
The child (a little boy, apparently about five years old) scrambled up to the top of the wall, and called again and again; but finding this of no avail, apparently made up his mind, like Mahomet, to go to the mountain, since the mountain would not come to him, and attempted to get over; but a crabbed old cherry-tree, that grew hard by, caught him by the frock in one of its crooked scraggy arms that stretched over the wall.
View in context
"Who is that man?" Dickon and Mary scrambled to their feet.
View in context
"Let us go and look," I put in, and hopelessly enough we scrambled up the sandy sides of the hillock, Umbopa leading.
View in context
But mine was answered, for the flat bumped right into a pile for a minute and I flung the scarf and the shawl over my shoulder and scrambled up on a big providential stub.
View in context
You OUGHT, Dinah, you know you ought!' she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and speaking in as cross a voice as she could manage--and then she scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the kitten and the worsted with her, and began winding up the ball again.
View in context
Lorry, getting down into the road--assisted from behind more swiftly than politely by the other two passengers, who immediately scrambled into the coach, shut the door, and pulled up the window.
View in context
He scrambled up and up; but before he reached the chimney top he came to a place where somebody had loosened a stone in the wall.
View in context
His mother dashed out; he sprang to meet her and held on tightly as she scrambled back into the cave.
View in context
As it was, I scrambled to my feet and cried out the danger call.
View in context

Dictionary browser ?
Full browser ?