Scram

English

Verb

Scram (third-person singular simple present Scrams, present participle scramming, simple past and past participle scrammed)

1. Get out of here; go away (frequently imperative).

   If you don't scram, I'll leave instead!

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:go away

Verb

Scram (third-person singular simple present scram, present participle scraming or scramming, simple past and past participle scramed or scrammed)

1. (ambitransitive) To abruptly insert the control rods of a nuclear reactor, usually in case of emergency shutdown.
   • 1983, Michio Kaku & Jennifer Trainer (eds.), Nuclear Power: Both Sides, p. 22,

     The slightest problem in a reactor will cause the control rods to plunge automatically in the uranium core at hih speeds (this is called scramming the reactor) and stop the chain reaction.

   • 1999, Charles Perrow, Normal Accidents: Living with High-risk Technologies, p. 44,

     This shut off current to the control rod mechanism, and the reactor scrammed (shut off) automatically.

   • 2000, Ralph R. Fullwood, Probabilistic Safety Assessment in the Chemical and Nuclear Industries, Elsevier, page 218

     Both active and manual methods scram by tripping power to a dedicated pump that unbalances the flows to the ^[sic] passively scram the reactor.

   • 2007, Samuel Upton Newtan, Nuclear War I and Other Major Nuclear Disasters of the 20th Century, p. 113,

     The reactor was then "scramed", but the control rods did not slide back into the reactor.

Noun

Scram (uncountable)

1. A rapid shutdown of a nuclear reactor
2. Alternative spelling of SCRAM.

Thesaurus

be off, beat it, begone, blow, clear out, decamp, dog it, duck and run, duck out, flake off, get, get going, get lost, get out, git, hightail, hit the road, kite, lam, make yourself scarce, shove off, skedaddle, skin out, split, take a powder, take off, vamoose

Pronunciation

• IPA: /skɹæm/
• Rhymes: -æm

Etymology 1

Attested since 1928, originally as U.S. slang; either:

• formed by abbreviation of scramble by apocope; or
• from dialect German schramm, imperative singular form of schrammen (“graze”).

Etymology 2

Back-formation from SCRAM, most etymology are likely backronyms.

Translations

Verb

go away

Finnish: häipyä, ottaa hatkat French: dégager (fr), décamper (fr), ficher le camp (fr), décaniller (fr), se tirer (fr), se barrer (fr), se tailler (fr), se casser (fr)

Polish: spierdalaj! Spanish: irse (es), retirarse (es), marcharse (es) Turkish: tüymek (tr), sıvışmak (tr)

See also

• amscray

Anagrams

• crams