scrum \skruhm\,
noun:
1. a Rugby play in which, typically, three members of each team line up opposite one another with a group of two and a group of three players behind them, making an eight-person, three-two-three formation on each side; the ball is then rolled between the opposing front lines, the players of which stand with arms around a teammate's waist, meeting the opponent shoulder to shoulder, and attempt to kick the ball backward to a teammate.
2. British. a place or situation of confusion and racket; hubbub.
verb:
1. to engage in a scrum.
This wasn't to be a scrum, but a more formal announcement, with the journalists plugging into a multifeed box for the audio.
-- Terry Fallis, "The High Road," 2010
The half who was taking the scrum whipped the ball out in the direction of his colleague.
-- P. G. Wodehouse, "A Prefect's Uncle," 1903
Scrum is an abbreviated form of scrummage, which is a variant of scrimmage. It likely came to English in the late-1800s from the Old High German word skirmen meaning "to protect" or "defend."
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