Topic: COMPUTERS
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| Date: | 1500-1600 |
| Origin: | Perhaps from scrabble |
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scram‧ble1
1 to climb up, down, or over something quickly and with difficulty, especially using your hands to help you
climb
[intransitive always + adverb/preposition] scramble up/down/over etc They tried to scramble up the cliff. She scrambled down the tree as quickly as she could.
They tried to scramble up the cliff.She scrambled down the tree as quickly as she could.2 to move somewhere in a hurried awkward way
move quickly
[ intransitive always + adverb/preposition]3 to try to do something difficult very quickly
do something quickly
[transitive] scramble to do something They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was in control.
They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was in control.4 to struggle or compete with other people to get or reach something
compete
[intransitive]5 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.
information/message
[transitive]TCTDOur conversation will be electronically scrambled.6 to mix words, ideas, sentences etc so that they are not in the right order and do not make sense : The words in each sentence are scrambled.
mix
[transitive]The words in each sentence are scrambled.7 to cook an egg by mixing the white and yellow parts together and heating it in a pan
scramble an egg
DFC8 to make someone unable to think clearly or reasonably : Maybe the alcohol has scrambled his brains.
scramble somebody's brains
informalMaybe the alcohol has scrambled his brains.9 if a military plane scrambles, it goes up into the air very quickly in order to escape or to attack an enemy
