[scram.ble] vb scram.bled ; scram.bling [perh. alter. of [1]scrabble] vi (ca. 1586) 1 a: to move or climb hastily on all fours b: to move with urgency or panic
2. a: to struggle eagerly or unceremoniously for possession of something "~ for front seats" b: to get or gather something with difficulty or in irregular ways "~ for a living"
3: to spread or grow irregularly: sprawl, straggle
4: to take off quickly in response to an alert
5. of a football quarterback: to run with the ball after the pass protection breaks down ~ vt 1: to collect by scrambling
2. a: to toss or mix together: jumble b: to prepare (eggs) by stirring during frying
3: to cause or order (a fighter-interceptor group) to scramble
4: to disarrange the elements of a transmission (as a telephone or television signal) in order to make unintelligible to interception -- scram.bler n
[2]scramble n (1674) 1: the act or an instance of scrambling
2: a disordered mass: jumble "a ... ~ of patterns and textures --Vogue"
3: a rapid emergency takeoff of fighter-interceptor planes