scramble

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To climb or move quickly using your hands and feet, especially over rough ground.

   The children scrambled up the rocks to reach the top of the hill.

2. 2
   verb

   To cook eggs by mixing them together and stirring them in a hot pan.

   I scrambled some eggs with spinach and cheese for breakfast.

3. 3
   verb

   To mix up a message or signal so that it cannot be understood without a key.

   The software scrambles the message so that nobody can read it.

4. 4
   verb

   To send aircraft into the air quickly in response to an alert.

   The air force scrambled fighter jets to intercept the unknown plane.

Origin uncertain. Perhaps from earlier dialectal scramble, scrammel (“to collect or rake together with the hands”), from scramb (“to pull or scrape together with the hands”) + -le (frequentative suffix) (compare Dutch schrammen (“to graze, brush, scratch”)); or alternatively from a nasalised form of scrabble (“to scrape or scratch quickly”).

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