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definitions

scram

1
[skram]
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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.

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RELATED WORDS

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

Nearby words

  1. scrabble,
  2. scrabbly,
  3. scrag,
  4. scraggly,
  5. scraggy,
  6. scramasax,
  7. scramb,
  8. scramble,
  9. scrambled egg,
  10. scrambled eggs

Origin of scram

1
1925–30; probably shortened form of scramble (but compare German schramm, imperative singular of schrammen to depart)

scram

2
[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

2
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

Examples from the Web for scramming

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

    The Old Martians|Roger Phillips Graham

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

    Hoiman and the Solar Circuit|Gordon Dewey
British Dictionary definitions for scramming

scram

1

verb scrams, scramming or scrammed

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

Word Origin for scram

C20: shortened from scramble

scram

2

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 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper