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scram

Pronunciation: /skɹæm/

The English word “scram” has 12 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To leave in a hurry; to go away.
  2. To shut down (a nuclear reactor or, by extension, some other thing) for safety reasons, usually because of an emergency.
  3. Of a nuclear reactor or some other thing: to shut down, usually because of an emergency.
  4. To scratch (something) with claws or fingernails; to claw.
  5. To mine for ore on a small scale, especially from mines previously been worked on where most of the ore is believed to have been removed.
  6. Of one's body or limbs: to become numb or stiff due to cold, lack of movement, etc.
  7. To be weakened by an accident, a disease, starvation, etc.

noun

  1. A gun, firearm.
  2. A shutdown of a nuclear reactor (or, by extension, some other thing), often done rapidly due to an emergency.
  3. The device used to shut down a nuclear reactor; also, the button or switch used to initiate a shutdown.
  4. A scratch, especially caused by claws or fingernails.
  5. A mine previously worked on where most of the ore is believed to have been removed, but which is still being mined on a small scale.

Etymology

Probably either: * a clipping of scramble by apocope; or * from dialectal German schramm, the imperative singular form of schrammen (“to scratch, scrape”), from Late Middle High German schramm, schramme (“a graze, scratch”); further etymology unknown.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.