scramble

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: scram=ble

CIDE DICTIONARY

scramble, v. i. [Freq. of Prov. E. scramb to rake together with the hands, or of scramp to snatch at. cf. Scrabble.].

•  To clamber with hands and knees; to scrabble; as, to scramble up a cliff; to scramble over the rocks.  [1913 Webster]
•  To struggle eagerly with others for something thrown upon the ground; to go down upon all fours to seize something; to catch rudely at what is desired.  [1913 Webster]

  "Of other care they little reckoning make,
  Than how to scramble at the shearer's feast."  [1913 Webster]

scramble, v. t. 

•  To collect by scrambling; as, to scramble up wealth.  Marlowe.  [1913 Webster]
•  To prepare (eggs) as a dish for the table, by stirring the yolks and whites together while cooking.  [1913 Webster]

scramble, n. 

•  The act of scrambling, climbing on all fours, or clambering.  [1913 Webster]
•  The act of jostling and pushing for something desired; eager and unceremonious struggle for what is thrown or held out; as, a scramble for office.  [1913 Webster]

  "Scarcity [of money] enhances its price, and increases the scramble."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

scramble, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. make one's way over rough ground, rocks, etc., by clambering, crawling, etc.
2 intr. (foll. by for, at) struggle with competitors (for a thing or share of it).
3 intr. move with difficulty, hastily, or anxiously.
4 tr. a mix together indiscriminately. b jumble or muddle.
5 tr. cook (eggs) by heating them when broken and well mixed with butter, milk, etc.
6 tr. change the speech frequency of (a broadcast transmission or telephone conversation) so as to make it unintelligible without a corresponding decoding device.
7 intr. move hastily.
8 tr. colloq. execute (an action etc.) awkwardly and inefficiently.
9 intr. (of fighter aircraft or their pilots) take off quickly in an emergency or for action.
--n.
1 an act of scrambling.
2 a difficult climb or walk.
3 (foll. by for) an eager struggle or competition.
4 Brit. a motor-cycle race over rough ground.
5 an emergency take-off by fighter aircraft.

Idiom

scrambled egg colloq. gold braid on a military officer's cap.

Etymology

16th c. (imit.): cf. dial. synonyms scamble, cramble

THESAURUS

scramble

Aesopian language, Babel, Greek, action, admix, ado, aerial combat, affray, agitation, air cover, air raid, air support, all fours, all sorts, alloy, amalgamate, argot, armored combat, arsy-varsiness, assemblage, assortment, babble, ball up, battle, battle royal, bemingle, blend, bollix up, bolt, bombing, bother, botheration, box, brawl, broad spectrum, broil, brouhaha, brush, bullfight, bundle, burst, bustle, cant, career, chase, cipher, clamber, clash, clash of arms, climb, close, clutter, coalesce, cockfight, code, collide, combat, combine, come to blows, commingle, commix, commotion, competition, complicate, compose, compound, concoct, conflict, confound, confuse, conglomerate, conglomeration, contend, contention, contest, cover, crawl, crawling, creep, creeping, crowd, cryptogram, cut and thrust, dart, dash, dash off, dash on, disorder, disturbance, dogfight, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, double Dutch, double-time, drive, drive on, dry run, duel, dustup, embroilment, emulsify, exchange blows, exchange of blows, farrago, feery-fary, fence, ferment, festinate, feud, fidgetiness, fight, fight a duel, fire fight, fit, flap, fling, flurry, fluster, flutter, flutteriness, foofaraw, forge ahead, foul up, fracas, fray, free-for-all, fumble, fuse, fuss, fussiness, gallimaufry, garble, get going, get moving, gibberish, gift of tongues, give and take, give satisfaction, glossolalia, go ahead, go all out, go on tiptoe, gobbledygook, grapple, grapple with, ground combat, grovel, gumshoe, gumshoeing, hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight, hash, hassle, haste, hasten, helter-skelter, hie, higgledy-piggledy, hodgepodge, homogenize, hotchpot, hotchpotch, house-to-house combat, hubbub, hullabaloo, hump, hump it, hurry, hurry on, hurry through, hurry up, hurry-scurry, hurtle, hustle, hysteron proteron, immingle, immix, inch, inch along, integrate, interblend, interlace, interlard, intermingle, intermix, intertwine, interweave, jargon, jostle, joust, jumble, jungle, knead, leap, litter, lose no time, maelstrom, magpie, make haste, make things hum, make unintelligible, mash, medley, melange, melee, merge, mess, milk run, mingle, mingle-mangle, miscellany, mishmash, mission, mix, mix it up, mix up, mixed bag, move quickly, muck up, muddle, mystify, naval combat, nightwalk, nightwalking, noise, obfuscate, obscure, odds and ends, olio, olla podrida, omnium-gatherum, pad, padding, pandemonium, passage of arms, pasticcio, pastiche, patchwork, pell-mell, pi, pitched battle, play hob with, plunge, post, pother, potpourri, press on, prowl, prowling, push, push on, pussyfoot, pussyfooting, quarrel, race, racket, ramble, rampage, rassle, reconnaissance, reconnaissance mission, restlessness, riffle, riot, rough-and-tumble, roughhouse, row, ruckus, ruction, rumble, rummage, rumpus, run, run a tilt, running fight, rush, rush through, salad, salmagundi, sauce, scamper, scoot, scour, scrabble, scramble up, screw up, scrimmage, scud, scuffle, scurry, scuttle, secret language, shadow, shindy, shoot, shoot ahead, shoving match, shuffle, shuttle raid, sidle, sidling, skedaddle, skirmish, slang, slink, slinking, snafu, snake, snaking, snarl up, sneak, sneaking, sortie, spar, spasm, sprangle, spread-eagle, spurt, stand-up fight, steal, steal along, stealing, step lively, step on it, stew, stir, stir up, straddle, strafing, straggle, street fight, strive, struggle, sweat, swirl, syncretize, tauromachy, tear, throw together, thrust and parry, tilt, tippytoe, tiptoe, tiptoeing, to-do, topsy-turviness, topsy-turvydom, toss together, tourney, training mission, trouble, tug-of-war, tumble, tumult, turmoil, tussle, umbrella, unholy mess, unquiet, uproar, vortex, wage war, war, welter, what you will, whirl, work, worm, worm along, worming, wrestle

ROGET THESAURUS

scramble

Pursuit

N pursuit, pursuing, prosecution, pursuance, enterprise, business, adventure, quest, scramble, hue and cry, game, hobby, still-hunt, chase, hunt, battue, race, steeple chase, hunting, coursing, venation, venery, fox chase, sport, sporting, shooting, angling, fishing, hawking, shikar (Geog loc:India), pursuer, hunter, huntsman, shikari (Geog loc:India), sportsman, Nimrod, hound, pursuing, in quest of, in pursuit, in full cry, in hot pursuit, on the scent, in pursuance of, after, Int, tallyho!, yoicks!, soho!.

Disorder

N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.

Haste

N haste, urgency, despatch, dispatch, acceleration, spurt, spirt, forced march, rush, dash, speed, velocity, precipitancy, precipitation, precipitousness, impetuosity, brusquerie, hurry, drive, scramble, bustle, fuss, fidget, flurry, flutter, splutter, hasty, hurried, brusque, scrambling, cursory, precipitate, headlong, furious, boisterous, impetuous, hotheaded, feverish, fussy, pushing, in haste, in a hurry, in hot haste, in all haste, breathless, pressed for time, hard pressed, urgent, with haste, with all haste, with breathless speed, in haste, apace, amain, all at once, at short notice, immediately, posthaste, by cable, by express, by telegraph, by forced marches, hastily, precipitately, helter-skelter, hurry-skurry, holus-bolus, slapdash, slap-bang, full-tilt, full drive, heels over head, head and shoulders, headlong, a corps perdu, by fits and starts, by spurts, hop skip and jump, sauve qui peut, every man for himself, devil take the hindmost, no time to be lost, no sooner said than done, a word and a blow, haste makes waste, maggiore fretta minore atto, ohne Hast aber ohne Rast stand not upon the order, swift, swift, you dragons of the night.

VB haste, hasten, make haste, make a dash, hurry on, dash on, whip on, push on, press on, press forward, hurry, skurry, scuttle along, barrel along, bundle on, dart to and fro, bustle, flutter, scramble, plunge, plunge headlong, dash off, rush, express, bestir oneself, lose no time, lose not a moment, lose not an instant, make short work of, make the best of one's time, make the best of one's way, be precipitate, jump at, be in haste, be in a hurry, have no time, have not a moment to lose, have not a moment to spare, work against time, quicken, accelerate, expedite, put on, precipitate, urge, whip, railroad.

Difficulty

N difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

Contention

N contention, strife, contest, contestation, struggle, belligerency, opposition, controversy, polemics, debate, war of words, logomachy, litigation, paper war, high words, sparring, competition, rivalry, corrivalry, corrivalship, agonism, concours, match, race, horse racing, heat, steeple chase, handicap, regatta, field day, sham fight, Derby day, turf, sporting, bullfight, tauromachy, gymkhana, boat race, torpids, wrestling, greco-roman wrestling, pugilism, boxing, fisticuffs, the manly art of self-defense, spar, mill, set-to, round, bout, event, prize fighting, quarterstaff, single stick, gladiatorship, gymnastics, jiujitsu, jujutsu, kooshti, sumo, athletics, athletic sports, games of skill, shindy, fracas, clash of arms, tussle, scuffle, broil, fray, affray, affrayment, velitation, colluctation, luctation, brabble, brigue, scramble, melee, scrimmage, stramash, bushfighting, free fight, stand up fight, hand to hand, running fight, conflict, skirmish, rencounter, encounter, rencontre, collision, affair, brush, fight, battle, battle royal, combat, action, engagement, joust, tournament, tilt, tilting, tournay, list, pitched battle, death struggle, struggle for life or death, life or death struggle, Armageddon, hard knocks, sharp contest, tug of war, naval engagement, naumachia, sea fight, duel, duello, single combat, monomachy, satisfaction, passage d'armes, passage of arms, affair of honor, triangular duel, hostile meeting, digladiation, deeds of arms, feats of arms, appeal to arms, pugnacity, combativeness, bone of contention, contending, together by the ears, at loggerheads, at war, at issue, competitive, rival, belligerent, contentious, combative, bellicose, unpeaceful, warlike, quarrelsome, pugnacious, pugilistic, gladiatorial, palestric, palestrical, a verbis ad verbera, a word and a blow, a very pretty quarrel as it stands, commune periculum concordiam parit, lis litem generat.

VB contend, contest, strive, struggle, scramble, wrestle, spar, square, exchange blows, exchange fisticuffs, fib, justle, tussle, tilt, box, stave, fence, skirmish, pickeer, fight, wrangle, contend with, grapple with, engage with, close with, buckle with, bandy with, try conclusions with, have a brush, with, tilt with, encounter, fall foul of, pitch into, clapperclaw, run a tilt at, oppose, reluct, join issue, come to blows, go to loggerheads, set to, come to the scratch, exchange shots, measure swords, meet hand to hand, take up the cudgels, take up the glove, take up the gauntlet, enter the lists, couch one's lance, give satisfaction, appeal to arms, lay about one, break the peace, compete with, cope with, vie with, race with, outvie, emulate, rival, run a race, contend for, stipulate for, stickle for, insist upon, make a point of.

Taking

N taking, reception, deglutition, appropriation, prehension, prensation, capture, caption, apprehension, deprehension, abreption, seizure, expropriation, abduction, ablation, subtraction, withdrawal, abstraction, ademption, adrolepsy, dispossession, deprivation, deprivement, bereavement, divestment, disherison, distraint, distress, sequestration, confiscation, eviction, rapacity, rapaciousness, extortion, vampirism, theft, resumption, reprise, reprisal, recovery, clutch, swoop, wrench, grip, haul, take, catch, scramble, taker, captor, subduction, taking, privative, prehensile, predaceous, predal, predatory, predatorial, lupine, rapacious, raptorial, ravenous, parasitic, bereft, at one fell swoop, give an inch and take an ell.

Ascent

VB ascend, rise, mount, arise, uprise, go up, get up, work one's way up, start up, shoot up, go into orbit, float up, bubble up, aspire, climb, clamber, ramp, scramble, escalade, surmount, shin, shinny, shinney, scale, scale the heights, raise, elevate, go aloft, fly aloft, tower, soar, take off, spring up, pop up, jump up, catapult upwards, explode upwards, hover, spire, plane, swim, float, surge, leap.