Scrum

Word of the Day for Sunday, June 30, 2013

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."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com