scram
scram Lexical Profile
scram Game Scores & Validity
• interjection
Used as an abrupt, informal command to tell someone to go away or leave immediately.
"The shopkeeper waved his broom at the stray dogs and yelled, "Scram!""
• verb
To leave a place quickly or go away at once, especially to avoid trouble (informal).
"We had better scram before the security guard comes back around the corner."
To shut down (a nuclear reactor) rapidly in an emergency, or of a reactor, to undergo an emergency shutdown.
"Technicians were forced to scram the unit after a sensor detected an unexpected temperature spike."
• noun
An emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor, typically achieved by rapidly inserting control rods to halt the fission reaction.
"The automated safety system triggered a reactor scram as soon as the coolant pressure dropped."
A hasty departure or sudden flight from a place (informal).
"When the sirens sounded in the distance, the trespassers made a quick scram over the back fence."
Word Nuance & Usage
In everyday conversation, 'scram' is an informal, somewhat brusque command telling someone to leave immediately. In nuclear engineering, however, it is a standard technical term (often capitalized as SCRAM) referring to an emergency reactor shutdown.
• Rhymes for scram
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the 1920s as American slang, the word is a clipped form of 'scramble' in the sense of moving away hastily. The nuclear engineering sense arose during the 1942 Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago, later popularized via the backronym 'Safety Control Rod Axe Man.'