any animal that feeds on decaying organic matter, esp on refuse
3.
a substance added to a chemical reaction or mixture to counteract the effect of impurities
4. old-fashioned
a person employed to clean the streets
Derived forms
scavengery (ˈscavengery)
noun
Word origin
C16: from Anglo-Norman scawager, from Old Norman French escauwage examination, from escauwer to scrutinize, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish scauwen
scavenger in American English
(ˈskævɪndʒər)
noun
1.
a person who gathers things that have been discarded by others, as a junkman
2.
any animal that eats refuse and decaying organic matter
3.
anything that removes impurities, refuse, etc.
4. Chiefly British
a person employed to clean the streets, collect refuse, etc.
Word origin
ME scavager < Anglo-Fr scawage, inspection < NormFr escauwer, to inspect < Fl scawen or Frank scouwon, to peer at, observe, akin to OE sceawian, show
Examples of 'scavenger' in a sentence
scavenger
I remember his saying once that he was a scavenger of ideas, too, but I don't recall whether that was before it all started.
Alan Judd THE DEVIL'S OWN WORK (2002)
He could almost see the coils tighten, the scavenger press back into the corner.
Greg Bear DEAD LINES (2002)
Synonyms of 'scavenger'
forager
More Synonyms of scavenger
(noun)
Definition
any animal that feeds on discarded or decaying matter