1
as in throng
a great number of persons or creatures massed together
I had to fight my way through the scrum of holiday shoppers at the mall
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in skirmish
a physical dispute between opposing individuals or groups
when the server spilled a drink on a customer, they got into a bit of a scrum before being separated
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in bedlam
British
a place of uproar or confusion
London's tube is quite a scrum during rush hour
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scrum
Fellow New Jersey Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver, acting out at the same scrum, was also arrested and charged with assaulting and impeding federal agents.
—
Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 23 June 2025
Fiery and defensive throughout a scrum that lasted over 90 minutes, Brian Cashman’s frustration reached a high point at the General Managers Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona on Nov. 7, 2023 when a reporter asked him about the Yankees’ difficulties developing homegrown hitters.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 10 July 2025
By the time he was joined by his longtime friend and fellow Celine ambassador Park Bo-gum and singer Suzy Bae, a veritable scrum had formed around the front row guests.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 6 July 2025
The officer then deployed pepper spray into the scrum, prompting protesters to scatter.
—Maryam Ahmed, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for scrum
Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 23 June 2025
Fiery and defensive throughout a scrum that lasted over 90 minutes, Brian Cashman’s frustration reached a high point at the General Managers Meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona on Nov. 7, 2023 when a reporter asked him about the Yankees’ difficulties developing homegrown hitters.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 10 July 2025
By the time he was joined by his longtime friend and fellow Celine ambassador Park Bo-gum and singer Suzy Bae, a veritable scrum had formed around the front row guests.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 6 July 2025
The officer then deployed pepper spray into the scrum, prompting protesters to scatter.
—Maryam Ahmed, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for scrum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scrum
Noun
-
To reduce the throng of festival goers that are often stuck on long lines upon arriving, camping entry will also now begin on Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
17 July 2025
-
Today, the throngs of business passengers flying between places like Albany and Islip in the early ‘80s are gone.—
Michael Boyd,
Forbes.com,
17 July 2025
Noun
-
The skirmish left the mother of Jones' child with a black eye.—
Chris Ramirez,
jsonline.com,
18 July 2025
-
The skirmish has thrust into the public eye a falling-out between two political heavyweights once seen as close allies.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
16 July 2025
Noun
-
To be fair, Fox didn’t have to search hard for bedlam.—
Max Taves,
Mercury News,
11 June 2025
-
No disrespect to those who missed it, but those early screenings of Roland Emmerich's Independence Day were barely contained bedlam.—
Jordan Hoffman,
EW.com,
4 July 2025
Noun
-
For the grand finale, singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Hamilton turned the dial down a few notches with a seemingly endless medley of southern R&B fitting for the festival's sophisticated, older crowd.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
The Enquirer,
27 July 2025
-
No Me Quiero Ir De Aqui with a show-stopping performance and two special guests: rising star Young Miko and salsa legend Gilberto Santa Rosa both came out to a roaring crowd and joined Benito onstage for a pair of songs.—
Julyssa Lopez,
Rolling Stone,
26 July 2025
Noun
-
Navarro and Griffin have long had tension on the air, including past eye-rolling and clashes.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
25 July 2025
-
Which is why policy analysts are scratching their heads about what exactly lies behind the escalating border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 July 2025
Noun
-
The madhouse of awards season and all its many, many controversies — not to mention an ongoing parade of natural and man-made disasters — has until now perhaps overshadowed some of the year’s lower-stakes joys.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2025
-
But things move fast in the Goodison madhouse.—
Greg O'Keeffe,
The Athletic,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This discovery is a big deal – until now, efforts to control outbreaks, or swarms, of these animals have been laborious and largely futile, requiring individual animals to be sited and removed.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
20 July 2025
-
Fears of India and Pakistan being a mistake away from nuclear war rose as the two countries hit each other’s military infrastructure with airstrikes and swarms of drones.—
Sam Dalrymple,
Time,
14 July 2025
Noun
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Ahead of his visit to Republican stronghold South Carolina, U.S. Representative Ro Khanna spoke with Newsweek on the battle plan for Democrats to compete in pro-Trump districts in next year's midterms.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 July 2025
-
There was a long legal battle, that went on for years.—
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz,
StyleCaster,
19 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scrum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scrum. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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