scram

¹ American  

[skram] / skræm /

verb (used without object)

Informal.

scrammed, scramming

1. to go away; get out (usually used as a command).

   I said I was busy, so scram.

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scram ² American  

[skram] / skræm /

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.

scram ¹ British  

/ skræm /

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

scram ² British  

/ skræm /

verb

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

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Etymology

Origin of scram¹

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

Origin of scram²

1945–50; perhaps identical with scram ¹, though sense development is unclear

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scram scrammed scramming

If a cop tells you to scram, “You can say, ‘It is my understanding I have every right to record this.

From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2021

If an officer tells you to scram, “you can say, ‘It is my understanding I have every right to record this.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2021

Ferraro walked the same tightrope that tripped up Hillary Clinton when she wondered if she should wheel around in that debate and tell the creeping Donald Trump to scram.

From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 2020

Then you press the start button and scram.

From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2014

Lucinda usually tells me to scram when she’s with one of her girlfriends.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

The good news is they scrammed, leaving me and my bike alone.

From Forbes ● May 5, 2015

Automatic systems would have "scrammed" the reactors, pushing control rods into the core and shutting them down.

From Time Magazine Archive

Good Night Ladies thereupon scrammed to San Francisco for a week, clicked, stayed five.

From Time Magazine Archive

No one but Mai Thi had stood her ground beside Mrs. Sidman while all the rest of us scrammed across the room.

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

All three of the scrammed reactors had emergency cooling systems.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

Another image from the series shows a group of children "scramming" for coins tossed to them after a wedding in one of Dundee's churches.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2010

A giant lobby clock hangs above the scattered people, the crowds scramming either to something or away from it—I can’t tell.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

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

From The Old Martians by Graham, Roger Phillips

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

From Hoiman and the Solar Circuit by Dewey, Gordon