scavenger

English

Alternative forms

  • skavenger (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English scavager, from Anglo-Norman scawageour (one who had to do with scavage, inspector, tax collector), from Old Northern French *scawage, escauwage (scavage), Old French *scavage, escavage, alteration of escauvinghe (compare Medieval Latin scewinga, sceawinga), from Old Dutch scauwōn (to inspect, to examinate, to look at). Compare Dutch schouwing (inspection). More at show.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈskæv.ən.dʒə(ɹ)/

Noun

scavenger (plural scavengers)

  1. Someone who scavenges, especially one who searches through rubbish for food or useful things.
  2. An animal that feeds on decaying matter such as carrion.
  3. (Britain, obsolete) A street sweeper.
  4. (Britain, historical) A child employed to pick up loose cotton from the floor in a cotton mill.
  5. (chemistry) A substance used to remove impurities from the air or from a solution.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

scavenger (third-person singular simple present scavengers, present participle scavengering, simple past and past participle scavengered)

  1. (archaic) To scavenge.
  2. (archaic) To clean the rubbish from a street, etc.

Further reading

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.