scram

[skram]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scram ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), scrammed, scram·ming. Informal.

to go away; get out (usually used as a command): I said I was busy, so scram.

Origin of scram

1925–30; probably shortened form of scramble (but compare German schramm, imperative singular of schrammen to depart)

scram

[skram]Informal.

noun

the rapid shutdown of a nuclear reactor in an emergency.

verb (used with object)

to shut down (a nuclear reactor) rapidly in an emergency.

Origin of scram

1945–50; perhaps identical with scram¹, though sense development is unclear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for scram

vamoose, hightail, depart, skedaddle, decamp, scoot, disappear

Examples from the Web for scram

Contemporary Examples of scram

First there's the SCRAM system, it automatically ejects the control rods into the core and shuts the plant down.
Japan Nuclear Fallout: How Bad Could It Get?
Josh Dzieza
March 12, 2011

Historical Examples of scram

To the girls she said, “Scram, if you want me downstairs in two minutes.”
The Mystery at Dark Cedars
Edith Lavell
Gibbering, I tried to get away, to flee or scram, but it was too late.
Futuria Fantasia, Spring 1940
Various
The big idea is, can we grab a plane and scram away from this tub?
Dave Dawson on Guadalcanal
Robert Sydney Bowen
We've got to get back to the jeep and scram out of here fast.
The Secret of the Ninth Planet
Donald Allen Wollheim
"Let's scram before they catch it," Hall said, but he was too late.
The Five Arrows
Allan Chase

British Dictionary definitions for scram

scram

verb scrams, scramming or scrammed

(intr; often imperative) informal to go away hastily; get out

Word Origin for scram

C20: shortened from scramble

scram

noun

an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor

verb

(of a nuclear reactor) to shut down or be shut down in an emergency

Word Origin for scram

C20: perhaps from scram 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scram

1928, U.S. slang, either a shortened form of scramble (v.) or from German schramm, imperative singular of schrammen "depart." Related: Scrammed; scramming.