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

In the Canucks game, his only transgression was getting caught in a scrum while coming to the aid of Lukas Reichel. —Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2025

Ekman-Larsson was relatively quiet but took a costly penalty after a scrum that probably never should’ve happened. —Nick Ashbourne, The Athletic, 14 Mar. 2025

After a long offensive zone possession, Arel found himself in the right spot to tip in an insurance goal in the middle of a scrum. —Erik Anderson, Boston Herald, 25 Feb. 2025

In a perfect storybook ending, Saturday’s premiere of the Disney live-action adaptation of Snow White would culminate in a familiar scrum on the red carpet in front of Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre. —Chris Lee, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for scrummage, alteration of scrimmage

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for scrum

• bum
• chum
• come
• crum
• cum
• drum
• dum
• dumb
• from
• frum
• glum
• gum