scramble

scram|ble¹ [ˈskræmbəl] v

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1¦(climb)¦

2¦(move quickly)¦

3¦(do something quickly)¦

4¦(compete)¦

5¦(information/message)¦

6¦(mix )¦

7 scramble an egg

8 scramble somebody's brains

9¦(aircraft)¦

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[Date: 1500-1600; Origin: Perhaps from scrabble]

1.) ¦(CLIMB)¦ [I always + adverb/preposition]

to climb up, down, or over something quickly and with difficulty, especially using your hands to help you

scramble up/down/over etc

▪ They tried to scramble up the cliff.

▪ She scrambled down the tree as quickly as she could.

2.) ¦(MOVE QUICKLY)¦ [ I always + adverb/preposition]

to move somewhere in a hurried awkward way

scramble to/out/from etc

▪ Alan scrambled out of the way.

▪ Micky scrambled to his feet (=stood up very quickly and awkwardly) and hurried into the kitchen.

3.) ¦(DO SOMETHING QUICKLY)¦ [T]

to try to do something difficult very quickly

scramble to do sth

▪ They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was in control.

4.) ¦(COMPETE)¦

to struggle or compete with other people to get or reach something

scramble for

▪ Thousands of people will be scrambling for tickets.

5.) ¦(INFORMATION/MESSAGE)¦ [T]

to use special equipment to mix messages, radio signals etc into a different form, so that they cannot be understood by other people without the correct equipment

▪ Our conversation will be electronically scrambled.

6.) ¦(MIX )¦ [T]

to mix words, ideas, sentences etc so that they are not in the right order and do not make sense

▪ In this exercise, the words in each sentence are scrambled.

7.) scramble an egg

to cook an egg by mixing the white and yellow parts together and heating it in a pan

8.) scramble sb's brains [i]informal

to make someone unable to think clearly or reasonably

▪ Maybe the alcohol has scrambled his brains.

9.) ¦(AIRCRAFT)¦

if a military plane scrambles, it goes up into the air very quickly in order to escape or to attack an enemy

scramble ²

scramble² [i]n

1.) [singular]

a difficult climb in which you have to use your hands to help you

▪ The village was a 20-minute scramble away.

2.) [singular]

a situation in which people compete with and push each other in order to get what they want

scramble for

▪ the usual scramble for the bathroom every morning

scramble to do sth

▪ a scramble to carry the baggage into the house

3.) [singular]

a situation in which something has to be done very quickly, with a lot of rushing around

▪ It was a mad scramble trying to get things ready in time.

4.) BrE

a ↑motorcycle race over rough ground