scrambler

English

Etymology

From scramble +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æmblə(ɹ)

Noun

scrambler (plural scramblers)

1. Someone or something that scrambles (in various senses).
   • 1984, Elizabeth Stone O'Neill, Meadow in the Sky: A History of Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows Region, page 31:

     May it comfort us latter-day scramblers up that fine old mountain to know that Le Conte found it "difficult and fatiguing in the extreme."

   • 2002, Lou Harry, Sam Stall, As Seen on TV:

     Want an egg sunny-side up? Just crack one into a container, nuke it for 30 seconds, extract it with the handy-dandy Egg Remover, and enjoy a soft yolk breakfast. If you want it scrambled, insert the gridded Egg Scrambler […]

2. A vine that does not attach itself to its supports.
   • 1991, Francis E. Putz, The Biology of Vines, page 77:

     Scramblers and palms that climb with the aid of hook-bearing leaves or modified inflorescences (i.e. Desmoncus and the lepidocaryoid rattans) climbed most successfully in dense clusters of small diameter supports, such as occur on the edge of treefall gaps.

3. A device that makes messages intentionally, but reversibly, unintelligible for reasons of privacy or security.

   In the movies spies are always talking over cell phones with built-in scramblers.

4. A motorcycle used for motocross.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “a device which scrambles messages/information”): descrambler, unscrambler

Derived terms

• descrambler
• unscrambler