scramble

American  

[skram-buhl] / ˈskræm bəl /

verb (used without object)

• scrambles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrambled,
  past participle,  past
• scrambling
  present participle

1. to climb or move quickly using one's hands and feet, as down a rough incline.

2. to compete or struggle with others for possession or gain.

   The children scrambled for the coins we tossed.

3. to move hastily and with urgency.

   She scrambled into her coat and ran out the door.

4. Military. (of pilots or aircraft) to take off as quickly as possible to intercept enemy planes.

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verb (used with object)

• scrambles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrambled,
  past participle,  past
• scrambling
  present participle

1. to collect or organize (things) in a hurried or disorderly manner (often followed by together orup ).

   He scrambled the papers up from the desk. I scrambled the report together at the last minute.

2. to mix together confusedly.

   The teacher has hopelessly scrambled our names and faces.

3. to cause to move hastily, as if in panic.

   He scrambled everyone out of the burning building.

4. to cook (eggs) in a pan while stirring, usually after mixing whites and yolks together.

5. to make (a radio or telephonic message) incomprehensible to interceptors by systematically changing the transmission frequencies.

6. to mix the elements of (a television signal) so that only subscribers with a decoding box can receive the signal.

7. Military. to cause (an intercepting aircraft or pilot) to take off in the shortest possible time, in response to an alert.

noun

• scrambles
  plural

1. a quick climb or progression over rough, irregular ground.

2. a struggle for possession or gain.

   a scramble for choice seats in the stadium.

3. any disorderly or hasty struggle or proceeding.

4. Military. an emergency takeoff of interceptors performed in the shortest possible time.

scramble British  

/ ˈskræmbəl /

verb

1. (intr) to climb or crawl, esp by using the hands to aid movement

2. (intr) to proceed hurriedly or in a disorderly fashion

3. to compete with others, esp in a disordered manner

   to scramble for a prize

4. to deal with hurriedly and unsystematically

5. (tr) to throw together in a haphazard manner; jumble

6. (tr) to collect in a hurried or disorganized manner

7. (tr) to cook (eggs that have been whisked up with milk and seasoning) in a pan containing a little melted butter

8. military to order (a crew or aircraft) to take off immediately or (of a crew or aircraft) to take off immediately

9. (tr) to render (speech) unintelligible during transmission by means of an electronic scrambler

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noun

1. the act of scrambling

2. a climb over rocks that involves the use of the hands but not ropes, etc

3. a disorderly struggle, esp to gain possession

4. military an immediate preparation for action, as of crew, aircraft, etc

5. a motorcycle rally in which competitors race across rough open ground

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scrambles
  plural

Participles

• scrambling
  present
• scrambled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scramble
  simple
• scrambles
  simple
• have scrambled
  perfect
• has scrambled
  perfect
• am scrambling
  progressive
• are scrambling
  progressive
• is scrambling
  progressive
• have been scrambling
  perfect progressive
• has been scrambling
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrambled
  simple
• had scrambled
  perfect
• was scrambling
  progressive
• were scrambling
  progressive
• had been scrambling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scramble
  simple
• will have scrambled
  perfect
• will be scrambling
  progressive
• will have been scrambling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of scramble

1580–90; blend of dial. scamble to stumble along, and scrabble (in the same sense)

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Explanation

To scramble is to move quickly in a disorganized fashion, like people running to get out of the rain. When you scramble a message, it can no longer be read. Have you ever run somewhere, in a hurry, with no regard for how you looked? Then you scrambled. Quarterbacks scramble when they need to escape defenders trying to clobber them. A scramble is not graceful; people scramble when they want to get somewhere fast. Also, scrambling refers to altering a message so others can't read it. Putting a message into code is a type of scrambling. Scrambled messages are like scrambled eggs: all mixed up.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scramble scrambles scrambled scrambling

There’s an ongoing desperate scramble to find available AI chips and data-center infrastructure from cloud providers, neoclouds and a number of upstart marketplaces offering quick access to computing power.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

They used to have my favorite breakfast in the world: sourdough, soft scramble, prosciutto and Parmesan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

As policymakers scramble for solutions to shore up Social Security’s finances, some are looking to the tax system to find new sources of revenue for the program.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

Some early robotic tests either failed or proved too expensive, creating a bottleneck as retailers scramble to speed up home delivery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

My breath hitches, and the kids fall over one another as they scramble to get away.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

The surge comes as the state scrambles to secure electricity for power-hungry data centers and the Las Vegas Strip.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

He had no scrambles and just three yards rushing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

In the first episode, student Daisy scrambles at rush hour to catch a jeepney, the country's most common form of public transport.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

As Big Tech scrambles to build artificial intelligence, demand for compute has far exceeded supply.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 24, 2026

It scrambles the Fixers software and initiates self-replication.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

"There's hardly anything available," said Laura Alonso, 26, who scrambled to find a new home with her partner in August after their landlord gave them notice.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Canada is one of the countries that have scrambled to bulk up their forced-labor enforcement amid the U.S. push.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Deep floodwaters in Bangkok drove thousands of residents into shelters as others scrambled to buy groceries or dry out their homes on Sunday after days of heavy rain inundated markets, roads and residences.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

When the 2023 flood came, his crew scrambled to set up about 30 diesel pumps and sent water flowing onto a vineyard and orchards of almonds, pistachios and olives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026

And when the robot rushed toward him, Brightbill squawked, “Stay back!” and scrambled away.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

He continued: "With its traditional covert footprint eviscerated by almost 1,000 expulsions since the invasion, the Kremlin's global toolkit is weak. So we see them scrambling to pay criminals to do their bidding."

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Now fights over how to get more of it—and what projects to give priority to—are sending a powerful industry scrambling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Slate’s Nitish Pahwa talked to psychologist and MIT professor Sherry Turkle about how “modern technology is scrambling our ability to live in the real world”—and what we can do about it.

From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2026

He got hurt during Chicago’s 9-3 loss Sunday while scrambling deep in Minnesota Vikings territory midway through the fourth quarter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

While everyone else in SoCal was scrambling for water, Dove Canyon thought they had it made.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

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Related Words

• clamber
• climb
• contend
• crawl
• jostle
• push
• rush
• scurry
• vie

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