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scram1

[skram]
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verb (used without object), scrammed, scram·ming. Informal.
  1. to go away; get out (usually used as a command): I said I was busy, so scram.
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Origin of scram1

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

scram2

[skram]Informal.
noun
  1. the rapid shutdown of a nuclear reactor in an emergency.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to shut down (a nuclear reactor) rapidly in an emergency.
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Origin of scram2

1945–50; perhaps identical with scram1, though sense development is unclear
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for scramming

Historical Examples

  • We are scramming through that crowd like mad, and we are in the clear.

    Hoiman and the Solar Circuit

    Gordon Dewey

  • I was confronted with the alternatives of scramming or calling him a liar.

    The Old Martians

    Roger Phillips Graham

British Dictionary definitions for scramming

scram1

verb scrams, scramming or scrammed
  1. (intr; often imperative) informal to go away hastily; get out
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Word Origin

C20: shortened from scramble

scram2

noun
  1. an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor
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verb
  1. (of a nuclear reactor) to shut down or be shut down in an emergency
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Word Origin

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 scramming

scram

v.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper