scrum

noun

ˈskrəm 

1

a

or scrummage

ˈskrə-mij 

: a rugby play in which the forwards of each side come together in a tight formation and struggle to gain possession of the ball using their feet when it is tossed in among them

also : the arrangement of players in a scrum

b

: a usually brief and disorderly struggle or fight : scrape, scuffle

2

a

British : madhouse sense 2

b

: a usually tightly packed or disorderly crowd : throng

scrummage intransitive verb

Synonyms

• army
• bike [chiefly Scottish]
• cram
• crowd
• crush
• drove
• flock
• herd
• horde
• host
• legion
• mass
• mob
• multitude
• press
• rout
• swarm
• throng

Examples of scrum in a Sentence

I had to fight my way through the scrum of holiday shoppers at the mall.

when the server spilled a drink on a customer, they got into a bit of a scrum before being separated

Recent Examples on the Web

After a scrum early in the third period of the Florida Panthers’ eventual 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday, Rangers forward Chris Kreider grabbed Tkachuk’s mouth guard and attempted to throw it into the crowd. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 29 May 2024

One such bill to emerge from the scrum was Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel’s AB 2316, which would ban food products like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Fruit Loops with certain chemical food dyes found to be toxic to humans from being served to students in California schools. —Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 23 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

short for scrummage, alteration of scrimmage

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1a