scrum

[ skruhm ]

/ skrʌm /

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noun

a Rugby play in which, typically, three members of each team line up opposite one another with a group of two and a group of three players behind them, making an eight-person, three-two-three formation on each side; the ball is then rolled between the opposing front lines, the players of which stand with arms around a teammate's waist, meeting the opponent shoulder to shoulder, and attempt to kick the ball backward to a teammate.

British. a place or situation of confusion and racket; hubbub.

verb (used without object), scrummed, scrum·ming.

to engage in a scrum.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

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Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also scrummage (for defs. 1, 3).

Origin of scrum

First recorded in 1885–90; short for scrummage

Words nearby scrum

scrub typhus, scrub-up, scrubwoman, scruff, scruffy, scrum, scrum half, scrummage, scrummie, scrummy, scrump

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use scrum in a sentence

Ten minutes and 18 seconds after it began, the experience ended, and Blue Origin personnel opened the capsule and guided the newly minted astronauts to a scrum of family and well-wishers waiting to congratulate them.
Blue Origin brought the first official tourists to space|Claire Maldarelli|July 20, 2021|Popular-Science
There’s a scrum in my brain as instinct, reason and parental authority collide, and in the end I acquiesce.
In Roanoke, Va., discovering a gateway to outdoor adventure|John Briley|June 4, 2021|Washington Post
Boston, scoreless on its four previous power plays, made this one count when Marchand knocked the puck out of the air during a scrum in front for a crucial equalizer.
Bruins seize upon Capitals’ gaffe behind the net, win Game 3 in double overtime|Samantha Pell|May 20, 2021|Washington Post
A scrum ensued, during which Artemi Panarin jumped on Wilson’s back and Wilson rag-dolled the helmetless Rangers star to the ice.
For some Caps fans, loving Tom Wilson is getting complicated|Scott Allen|May 14, 2021|Washington Post

The wisdom of the crowd, whether it’s a modest team-sized collective or a larger national media-sized scrum, is just not very wise when it comes to ranking NFL prospects.
How Much Value Do Teams Lose When They Don’t Draft A Quarterback In The First Round?|Josh Hermsmeyer|May 13, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
While van der Sloot may well have been cut in Challapaca, there is no reliable indication that he got stabbed in a prison scrum.
Did Joran Van Der Sloot Fake His Prison Shanking?|Andrea Zarate, Barbie Latza Nadeau|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another result was a line of TV news trucks and a scrum of photographers outside the funeral as the church filled to overflowing.
The Gentle Giant Cut Down by Cops|Michael Daly|July 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the game ended, tension between the two sides boiled over into a scrum of stick swinging, pushing, and punching.
A Millennium After Inventing the Game, the Iroquois Are Lacrosse’s New Superpower|Evin Demirel|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the halls around the event Cruz attracted a giant scrum when he was briefly visible.
Ted Cruz Is The Star Of CPAC|Ben Jacobs|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the scrum of reporters backstage after the show, someone asked Mulleavy whether the collection had a “Vegas connection.”
Rodarte’s Ode to Los Angeles|Isabel Wilkinson|September 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The scrimmages were the tightest and neatest ever watched, and neither scrum could screw the other a foot.
Sinister Street, vol. 1|Compton Mackenzie
None of the old-fashioned pit-of-the-theatre scrum for passport inspection, on the smoking-room deck.
The Mountebank|William J. Locke
Officers jostled privates, sailors vied with soldiers in the scrum before the entrance to the microbic land of tunnels.
The Orchard of Tears|Sax Rohmer
He was shoved into the scrum, was perfectly useless, and spent his whole time trying to escape notice.
The Loom of Youth|Alec Waugh
Jeffries was ubiquitous; he led the "grovel" (as the scrum was called at Fernhurst), and kept it together.
The Loom of Youth|Alec Waugh

British Dictionary definitions for scrum

scrum

/ (skrʌm) /

noun

rugby the act or method of restarting play after an infringement when the two opposing packs of forwards group together with heads down and arms interlocked and push to gain ground while the scrum half throws the ball in and the hookers attempt to scoop it out to their own team. A scrum is usually called by the referee (set scrum) but may be formed spontaneously (loose scrum)

informal a disorderly struggle

verb scrums, scrumming or scrummed

(intr usually foll by down) rugby to form a scrum

Word Origin for scrum

C19: shortened from scrummage

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