forager

[fawr-i-jer, for-]

noun

1. a person or animal who goes out in search of food or provisions of any kind.

   The ants you see are the foragers, out looking for food and water, and they represent only a very small number of the total colony.

2. someone who collects or obtains things through hunting or searching about.

   We meet the protagonist struggling to make ends meet as a scrap-metal forager in a remote community.

Word History and Origins

Origin of forager¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, for an earlier sense; forag(e) ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Scientists still do not know how the colony responds when foragers return with less than expected.

Read more on Science Daily

Local foragers were hired to spot the next food fads.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As foragers obsess over America’s next best fruit, other people I met focus on preserving old cultivars.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The self-described mushroom lover and amateur forager had told the court it was all a tragic accident.

Read more on BBC

His career paths are hunter, forager or watchtower guard, but he seems more like the product of a progressive Montessori school, even with his dad urging him to cackle at shredded deer intestines.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

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