scram

1
[ skram ]
See synonyms for: scramscramming on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),scrammed, scram·ming.Informal.
  1. to go away; get out (usually used as a command): I said I was busy, so scram.

Origin of scram

1
1925–30; probably shortened form of scramble (but compare German schramm, imperative singular of schrammen to depart)

Words Nearby scram

Other definitions for scram (2 of 2)

scram2
[ skram ]

noun
  1. the rapid shutdown of a nuclear reactor in an emergency.

verb (used with object)
  1. to shut down (a nuclear reactor) rapidly in an emergency.

Origin of scram

2
1945–50; perhaps identical with scram1, though sense development is unclear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use scram in a sentence

  • First there's the scram system, it automatically ejects the control rods into the core and shuts the plant down.

  • We ought to abandon the Glory to her place in the sun and scram out of here in the lifeboatsevery last person aboard ship.

    A Place in the Sun | C.H. Thames
  • Gibbering, I tried to get away, to flee or scram, but it was too late.

  • "Yeah—she'll be here, all right, thanks to you—scram—" answered Evelyn, as he went out the door.

    Hookers | Richard F. Mann
  • To the girls she said, “scram, if you want me downstairs in two minutes.”

  • "Maybe we had better scram out of here, Joe," Abdul suggested.

    Pastoral Affair | Charles A. Stearns

British Dictionary definitions for scram (1 of 2)

scram1

/ (skræm) /


verbscrams, scramming or scrammed
  1. (intr; often imperative) informal to go away hastily; get out

Origin of scram

1
C20: shortened from scramble

British Dictionary definitions for scram (2 of 2)

scram2

/ (skræm) /


noun
  1. an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor

verb
  1. (of a nuclear reactor) to shut down or be shut down in an emergency

Origin of scram

2
C20: perhaps from scram 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012