mooch
Americanverb (used with object)
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to borrow (a small item or amount) without intending to return or repay it.
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to get or take without paying or at another's expense; sponge.
He always mooches cigarettes.
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to beg.
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to steal.
verb (used without object)
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to skulk or sneak.
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to loiter or wander about.
noun
verb
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to loiter or walk aimlessly
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(intr) to behave in an apathetic way
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(intr) to sneak or lurk; skulk
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(tr) to cadge
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(tr) to steal
Other Word Forms
- moocher noun
Etymology
Origin of mooch
1425–75; late Middle English, apparently variant of Middle English michen < Old French muchier to skulk, hide
Explanation
To mooch is to take advantage of other people's generosity without giving anything in return. If you constantly mooch rides from your friend, she's going to get tired of agreeing to drive you around. When you mooch food from your neighbors — showing up every night at dinnertime, or appearing uninvited at their family barbecues — you help yourself to free meals. A person in the habit of doing this is also called a mooch. The word's original definition, "pretend poverty," might stem from the Middle English word mucchen, "to be stingy," or literally, "to keep coins in one's nightcap."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While other dogs might be content to mooch off kitchen droppings, Riley prefers to eat from her own plate of human food.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 23, 2025
No casting is required to mooch — just drop 10-to-30-pound test line, rigged up on an 8.5-to-9.5-foot moderate action rod, to the desired depth, then reel the line back in.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 6, 2022
Like all viruses, they take over cells and force them to churn out other copies of themselves, the worst kind of mooch you can imagine.
From Salon • Nov. 22, 2021
Get ready for next summer though, to mooch and be mooched upon.
From Washington Post • Sep. 3, 2020
Something oily and slimy that left a greasy trail and liked to mooch off other people’s ideas.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
