v. 1 climb, clamber, crawl, scrabble, struggle We scrambled up the rocky hillside with the big cat in pursuit 2 rush, hurry, scamper, run, hasten, race, scurry, scoot, scuttle, dash, hotfoot (it), hustle, Chiefly US and Canadian, hightail (it), Colloq skedaddle When the siren sounded, we scrambled down to the air raid shelter 3 Often, scramble up. mix up, confuse, jumble, intermingle, mingle, commingle Contestants, spectators, and officials were all scrambled together
n. 4 scrimmage, struggle, tussle, contention, clash, competition, contest, race, rush, clash, conflict, disorder, commotion, riot, mêlée or melee, pandemonium, Colloq free-for-all, hassle, Brit scrum or scrummage Thousands were involved in the scramble for tickets to the rock concert In the scramble for a directorship Jeremy lost. 5 struggle, climb She twisted her ankle in the scramble over the rocks