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

• throng
• crowd
• swarm
• flock
• horde
• mob

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

Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark just didn’t want to be left out of a burgeoning scrum on a Saturday night. —Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025

Amid a scrum of reporters, Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson sat between teammates Flory Bidunga and Tre White. —Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025

Poirier whipped in the ball from the ensuing corner, and the ball landed at Lienke’s feet after a scrum inside the six-yard box. —Andrew Cornelius, Twin Cities, 22 Oct. 2025

The event, long held at New York’s Carnegie Hall when it was backed by CBS, was viewed as a bellwether for the event, which kicks off an annual scrum to sell billions in TV ad time ahead of the networks’ next cycle of programming. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Oct. 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