foraging

[fawr-i-jing, for-]

noun

1. the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of plant matter.

adjective

1. characterized by or dependent upon the acquisition of food by such means; food-gathering.

   a foraging people.

Word History and Origins

Origin of foraging¹

First recorded in 1480–90; forage ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun, forage ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective

Example Sentences

It was during her time in the rainforest reserve at Gombe, in Tanzania, when she stopped to spend time watching a male chimpanzee who was foraging.

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“With all that noise and all those people down there, right on the lake, the eagles aren’t going to use that for foraging habitat,” she said.

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Locals know Phillips as a bushman with survival skills that would have set him up for building shelters and foraging for food in the wilderness.

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While on holiday she was fascinated by their foraging behaviour as they moved gracefully through the shallow, saline wetlands, filter-feeding for molluscs and crustaceans.

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She also claimed she didn't tell authorities the truth about her mushroom foraging hobby because she feared they might blame her for making her relatives sick.

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