different between scramble vs scuttle

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Compare earlier dialectal scramb (“pull with hands”) and scrabble (“to scrape or scratch quickly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sk?æmbl?/
• Rhymes: -æmb?l

Verb

scramble (third-person singular simple present scrambles, present participle scrambling, simple past and past participle scrambled)

1. (intransitive) To move hurriedly to a location, especially by using all limbs against a surface.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 3

     When I saw the coffin I knew that I was respited, for, as I judged, there was space between it and the wall behind enough to contain my little carcass; and in a second I had put out the candle, scrambled up the shelves, half-stunned my senses with dashing my head against the roof, and squeezed my body betwixt wall and coffin.

2. (intransitive) To proceed to a location or an objective in a disorderly manner.
3. (transitive, of food ingredients, usually including egg) To thoroughly combine and cook as a loose mass.

   I scrambled some eggs with spinach and cheese.

4. (transitive) To process (telecommunication signals) to make them unintelligible to an unauthorized listener.
5. (transitive, military) To quickly deploy (vehicles, usually aircraft) to a destination in response to an alert, usually to intercept an attacking enemy.
6. (intransitive, military) To be quickly deployed in this manner.
   • 1969, Burke Davis, Get Yamamoto (page 115)

     As the planes scrambled, four of his veterans went up: Tom Lanphier, Rex Barber, Joe Moore and Jim McLanahan. They had waited with other Lightnings at 30,000 feet and dived on a formation of eleven Zeroes far below, working in pairs.

7. (intransitive, sports) To partake in motocross.
8. (intransitive) To ascend rocky terrain as a leisure activity.
9. (transitive) To gather or collect by scrambling.
10. (transitive) To struggle eagerly with others for something thrown upon the ground; to go down upon all fours to seize something; to catch rudely at what is desired.
11. (transitive) To throw something down for others to compete for in this manner.
    • 1952, Walkabout (volume 18, page 40)

      […] Father Boniface standing on the verandah of the Monastery on a Sunday afternoon “scrambling” lollies to the kids […]

Derived terms

• scrambled eggs

Translations

Noun

scramble (plural scrambles)

1. A rush or hurry, especially making use of the limbs against a surface.

2. (military) An emergency defensive air force mission to intercept attacking enemy aircraft.
   • 1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave.

3. A motocross race.
4. Any frantic period of competitive activity.
5. (gridiron football) An impromptu maneuver or run by a quarterback, attempting to gain yardage or avoid being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Antonyms

• sortie

Derived terms

• pedestrian scramble
• scramble band
• tofu scramble

Translations

Interjection

scramble

1. (Britain) Shouted when something desirable is thrown into a group of people who individually want that item, causing them to rush for it.

Anagrams

• cambrels, clambers, crambles, scambler

English

Alternative forms

• skuttle

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sk?t?l/, [?sk?t??], [?sk?t??]
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sk?t?l/, [?sk????], [?sk????]
• Rhymes: -?t?l

Etymology 1

From Middle English scuttel, scutel, from Old English scutel (“dish, platter”), from Latin scutella, diminutive form of Latin scutra (“flat tray, dish”), perhaps related to Latin scutum (“shield”); compare Dutch schotel and German Schüssel.

Noun

scuttle (plural scuttles)

1. A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch 4:

     All through dinner—which was long, in consequence of such accidents as the dish of potatoes being mislaid in the coal skuttle and the handle of the corkscrew coming off and striking the young woman in the chin—Mrs. Jellyby preserved the evenness of her disposition.

2. A broad, shallow basket.
3. (obsolete, Northern England and Scotland) A dish, platter or a trencher.

Usage notes

The sense of "dish, platter" survives in compounds like scuttle-dish (a large dish).

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French escoutille (compare French écoutille), from Old Norse skaut (“corner of a cloth, of a sail”), or alternatively from Spanish escotilla, ultimately from Gothic ???????????????????????? (skauts, “projecting edge, fringe”), from Proto-Germanic *skautaz (“corner; wedge; lap”). Compare German Schoß, Old English s??at. More at sheet.

Noun

scuttle (plural scuttles)

1. A small hatch or opening in a boat. Also, small opening in a boat or ship for draining water from open deck.
2. (construction) A hatch that provides access to the roof from the interior of a building.

Synonyms

• (hatch that provides access to the roof): roof hatch

Translations

Verb

scuttle (third-person singular simple present scuttles, present participle scuttling, simple past and past participle scuttled)

1. (transitive, nautical) To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.
2. (transitive) To deliberately sink one's ship or boat by any means, usually by order of the vessel's commander or owner.
   • 2002, Richard Côté, Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy, Corinthian Books (2002), ?ISBN, page 325:

     In this version, the Patriot was boarded by pirates (or the crew and passengers were overpowered by mutineers), who murdered everyone and then looted and scuttled the ship.

   • 2003, Richard Norton Smith, The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880-1955, Northwestern University Press (2003), ?ISBN, page 238:

     To lay the foundation for an all-weather dock at Shelter Bay, he filled an old barge with worn-out grindstones from the Thorold paper mill, then scuttled the vessel.

   • 2007, Michael Mueller, Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitler's Spymaster, Naval Institute Press (2007), ?ISBN, page 17:

     He decided that before scuttling the ship to prevent her falling into enemy hands he had to get the dead and wounded ashore.

   • 2009, Nancy Toppino, Insiders' Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West, Insiders' Guide (2009), ?ISBN, page 227:

     In recent years, steel-hull vessels up to 350 feet long have been scuttled in stable sandy-bottom areas, amassing new communities of fish and invertebrates and easing the stress and strain on the coral reef by creating new fishing and diving sites.

3. (transitive, by extension, in figurative use) Undermine or thwart oneself (sometimes intentionally), or denigrate or destroy one's position or property; compare scupper.

   The candidate had scuttled his chances with his unhinged outburst.

Translations

Etymology 3

See scuddle.

Verb

scuttle (third-person singular simple present scuttles, present participle scuttling, simple past and past participle scuttled)

1. (intransitive) To move hastily, to scurry.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 3

     there was a wisp or two of fine seaweed that had somehow got in, and a small crab was still alive and scuttled across the corner, yet the coffins were but little disturbed.

   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 8

     Morel scuttled out of the house before his wife came down.

Usage notes

The word "scuttle" carries a crab-like connotation, and is mainly used to describe panic-like movements of the legs, akin to crabs' leg movements.

Translations

Noun

scuttle (plural scuttles)

1. A quick pace; a short run.

Further reading

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language
• An historical dictionary
• The English Dialect Dictionary
• Scuttle in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

Anagrams

• cutlets, cuttles