scramn.1
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ = scran n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > picnic or packed meal > [noun]
picnic1748
tea-treatc1748
a kettle of fish1791
scram1831
picnic meal1839
box supper1851
basket-meeting1859
picnic lunch1865
picnic tea1869
school feast1879
basket picnic1882
box lunch1889
basket dinner1892
basket lunch1905
packed lunch1906
sack lunch1972
brown-bag lunch1976
1831 S. Lover Legends & Stories Ireland 96 Bad scram to you, you thick-headed vagabone.
1831 S. Lover Legends & Stories Ireland Gloss. Bad scram, bad food.
1881 J. Sargisson Joe Scoap's Jurneh 148 He cot a model eh what he thowt t'shap on't sud be, oot of a lump eh baykin-scram.
a1935 T. E. Lawrence Mint (1955) ii. xiii. 135 The hut lights were on and he had brought me a tin of tea and a hot sausage roll. ‘Scran up!’ he called... ‘What's all this in aid of?’ I asked, stupidly.
1936 F. Clune Roaming round Darling xxiv. 246 After unloading flour, spuds, tea, sugar—every kind of scram, we lobbed inside the house.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scramn.2
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ Nuclear Physics.
The rapid shutting down of a nuclear reactor, usually in an emergency. Frequently attributive.Both this word and scram v.3 are possibly derived from scram v.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear reactor > [noun] > closure of reactor > for safety reasons
shutdown1945
scram1953
scramming1958
1953 Nucleonics June 40/2 Momentary-contact types [of push button] used to operate..scram circuits.
1955 Nucleonics Sept. 53/2 Scram is initiated if preset power level is exceeded by 20%.
1959 New Scientist 26 Mar. 696/3 The [Nautilus submarine] Mark I had a constant plague of ‘scrams’ from such slight causes as vibration from a crew member's walking through the reactor compartment.
1968 F. Kertesz Lang. Nucl. Sci. (Oak Ridge Nat. Lab. TM 2367) 21 During the experiment that culminated on December 2, 1942 in the accomplishment of the first controlled nuclear chain reaction, a safety rod was held by a rope running through the pile and weighted on the opposite end. The young physicist in charge was told to watch the indicator; if it exceeded a certain value he was to cut the rope and scram. Since then the term scram is used to designate the emergency shutdown of a reactor. Today the urgency is lost and the word scram indicates simply a fast-shutdown operation.
1973 D. R. Inglis Nucl. Energy iv. 117 Emergency shutdown or scram equipment must be very sure to function properly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scramadj.
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ south-western dialect.
Abnormally small, insignificant-looking, puny. scram hand, a withered hand (Elworthy, West Som. Gloss.); hence Comb. scram-handed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily height > shortness > [adjective]
shorta900
littleOE
lowa1398
untallc1535
dwarfish1542
shrimpish1549
pygmy1592
shrubby1603
dapper1606
punya1616
runtisha1642
truss1674
sesquipedalian1741
smally1764
petite1766
elfin1796
scram1825
squibbish1826
gnomic1845
dwarf-like1850
knee-high to a grasshopper1851
underhanded1856
nanoid1857
whipping-snapping1861
scrunty1868
midget1875
short-set1883
sawed-off1887
strunty1897
munchkin1930
sawn-off1936
short-arsed1951
1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 69 Skram adj., awkward; stiff, as if benumbed.
1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 69 Skram-handed adj., having the fingers or joints of the hand in such a state that it can with difficulty be used; an imperfect hand.
1853 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches (1871) Gloss. Scram, small, puny. ‘What a scram cheeld!’
1872 T. Hardy Under Greenwood Tree I. i. v. 64 There's sure to be some poor little scram reason for't.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles II. xxix. 101 I'd ha' knocked him down wi' the rolling-pin—a scram little feller like he!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scramv.1
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ south-western dialect.
passive. To be paralysed; to be benumbed (with cold). Also transferred of a wheel.
ΚΠ
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 2381 A Crepill..with hondis al for-skramyd.]
1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 69 To Skram v. a., to benumb with cold.
1894 B. Whitby Mary Fenwick's Daughter III. iii. 63 When the engine stops, her wheels get clogged up, and scrambed [with snow].
Derivatives
ˈscrammed adj.
ΚΠ
1697 R. Pierce Bath Mem. i. x. 235 He..being..willing to play; but, not having a ready Use of his Lower Parts, could not, but was Scramm'd, drawn up altogether.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II Scrambed, deprived of the use of some limb by a nervous contraction of the muscles. Somerset.
1876 T. Hardy Hand of Ethelberta II. xlii. 180 On a frosty winter night he'll keep me there..till my arms be scrammed for want of motion.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scramv.2
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ slang (originally U.S.).
intransitive. To depart quickly. Frequently imperative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > go away suddenly or hastily
fleec825
runOE
swervea1225
biwevec1275
skip1338
streekc1380
warpa1400
yerna1400
smoltc1400
stepc1460
to flee (one's) touch?1515
skirr1548
rubc1550
to make awaya1566
lope1575
scuddle1577
scoura1592
to take the start1600
to walk off1604
to break awaya1616
to make off1652
to fly off1667
scuttle1681
whew1684
scamper1687
whistle off1689
brush1699
to buy a brush1699
to take (its, etc.) wing1704
decamp1751
to take (a) French leave1751
morris1765
to rush off1794
to hop the twig1797
to run along1803
scoot1805
to take off1815
speela1818
to cut (also make, take) one's lucky1821
to make (take) tracks (for)1824
absquatulize1829
mosey1829
absquatulate1830
put1834
streak1834
vamoose1834
to put out1835
cut1836
stump it1841
scratch1843
scarper1846
to vamoose the ranch1847
hook1851
shoo1851
slide1859
to cut and run1861
get1861
skedaddle1862
bolt1864
cheese it1866
to do a bunkc1870
to wake snakes1872
bunk1877
nit1882
to pull one's freight1884
fooster1892
to get the (also to) hell out (of)1892
smoke1893
mooch1899
to fly the coop1901
skyhoot1901
shemozzle1902
to light a shuck1905
to beat it1906
pooter1907
to take a run-out powder1909
blow1912
to buzz off1914
to hop it1914
skate1915
beetle1919
scram1928
amscray1931
boogie1940
skidoo1949
bug1950
do a flit1952
to do a scarper1958
to hit, split or take the breeze1959
to do a runner1980
to be (also get, go) ghost1986
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (intransitive)]
scud1602
go scrape!1611
to push off (also along)1740
to go it1797
to walk one's chalks1835
morris1838
scat1838
go 'long1859
to take a walk1881
shoot1897
skidoo1905
to beat it1906
to go to the dickens1910
to jump (or go (and) jump) in the lake1912
scram1928
to piss offa1935
to bugger off1937
to fuck off1940
go and have a roll1941
eff1945
to feck off?1945
to get lost1947
to sod off1950
bug1956
to hit, split or take the breeze1959
naff1959
frig1965
muck1974
to rack off1975
1928 W. Winchell in N.Y. Evening Graphic 4 Oct. 23 His [sc. Jack Conway's] popular slang creations include..‘scram’, meaning ‘git out!’
1933 Punch 11 Jan. 29/3 Son, beat ut, d'ya get me?—Gwawn—S-C-R-R-A-M!
1937 D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon iv. 84 Well, I must scram.
1940 N. Mitford Pigeon Pie iv. 75 She gave a sort of shriek..and scrammed.
1947 D. M. Davin Gorse blooms Pale 172 You tell her to scram.
1952 J. Cannan Body in Beck vii. 146 ‘Perhaps you would be good enough to withdraw.’..Sebastian said, ‘He means scram.’
1961 P. G. Wodehouse Service with Smile vii. 109 ‘Go away, boy!’ he boomed. ‘You mean ‘Scram!’, don't you, chum?’ said George, who liked to get these things right.
1973 A. Hunter Gently French xi. 96 Kindly hook it... I just want you to scram.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scramv.3
/skram/, U.S. /skræm/ Nuclear Physics.
a. transitive. To shut down (a nuclear reactor), usually in an emergency.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear reactor > close down [verb (transitive)] > for safety reasons
to shut down1945
scram1950
1950 Amer. Speech 25 27 The point of neutron intensity at which the reactor is ‘scrammed’—shut down, automatically or otherwise.
1953 Nucleonics Jan. 40/2 The operator is provided with a control console from which he can change the position of rods, switch into automatic control, and scram the reactor.
1959 New Scientist 26 Mar. 695/3 A highly sensitive system of eighty different control circuits was designed to anticipate any dangerous instability of the reactor and within a fraction of a second initiate an emergency shutdown, or in the jargon of the nuclear engineer, ‘scram’ the reactor.
1973 D. R. Inglis Nucl. Energy iv. 95 The current can also be used, when it gets too strong, to trigger the emergency control rods and ‘scram’ or shut down the reactor.
1975 Nature 16 Oct. 526/1 At 1251, the operator decided to shut the reactor down by inserting the control rods into the core, thereby cutting off the chain reaction (in operator's parlance, he manually ‘scrammed’ the reactor).
b. intransitive. Of a nuclear reactor: to shut down, usually in an emergency.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear reactor > of reactor: become self-sustaining [verb (intransitive)] > close down
to shut down1945
scram1957
1957 Nucleonics Feb. 56/3 After a reactor scrams, the question immediately arises: What circuit caused the scram and what happened during shutdown?
1979 New Scientist 19 Apr. 174/1 At 2350 lb/sq. in, the reactor automatically ‘scrammed’ and seconds later the pressure began to drop.
Derivatives
ˈscramming n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > nuclear fission > nuclear reactor > [noun] > closure of reactor > for safety reasons
shutdown1945
scram1953
scramming1958
1958 Nucleonics May 64 The entire basis for scramming..may well need to be re-examined for future power reactors.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1982; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11831
n.21953adj.1825v.11697v.21928v.31950