verb
General Slang
scramble
· verb · military
Emergency launch of fighter aircraft to intercept an incoming threat.
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Definitions
1
The flat-out, drop-everything launch of fighters to meet an unidentified or hostile aircraft. Klaxon goes, pilots sprint to the jets, wheels up in minutes. Born in the Battle of Britain when RAF Fighter Command needed Spitfires and Hurricanes airborne before the Luftwaffe arrived overhead. Still the term NATO air forces use today for quick-reaction alert launches.
“Two Typhoons scrambled from Lossiemouth to intercept a Russian Bear pushing into UK airspace.”
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2
By extension, any chaotic rush to react. Civilian usage drips down from the military meaning.
“The whole office scrambled when the client moved the deadline up a week.”
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scramble In A Sentence
Two Typhoons scrambled from Lossiemouth to intercept a Russian Bear pushing into UK airspace.
The whole office scrambled when the client moved the deadline up a week.
Origin & Usage
RAF Fighter Command, Battle of Britain (1940). Pilots were ordered to 'scramble' to their aircraft as fast as humanly possible.
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