scamper
Americanverb (used without object)
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scampers,
present (3rd person singular)
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scampered,
past participle, past
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scampering
present participle
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to run or go hastily or quickly.
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to run playfully about, as a child.
noun
verb
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to run about playfully
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(often foll by through) to hurry quickly through (a place, task, book, etc)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scampersimple
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scamperssimple
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have scamperedperfect
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has scamperedperfect
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am scamperingprogressive
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are scamperingprogressive
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is scamperingprogressive
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have been scamperingperfect progressive
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has been scamperingperfect progressive
Past
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scamperedsimple
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had scamperedperfect
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was scamperingprogressive
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were scamperingprogressive
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had been scamperingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scamper
Explanation
To scamper is to move in a hurry. You and your friends might scamper to catch the bus, or your kitten might scamper to catch a mouse. The verb scamper describes something that's moving in disorderly haste, often out of fear or excitement. You might notice that chipmunks scamper the instant your dog goes outside. You can also use scamper as a noun, when you talk about your death-defying scamper across town in an effort to be on time for your first day of work. Scamper was a very popular word in the late 1800s.
Vocabulary lists containing scamper
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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.
See Examples For:
First spotted bounding across streets in Washington, the Seattle raccoon with an unusual, spindly shape and the scamper of a Tasmanian Devil has been seized on by the internet as a new hit meme.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
However, Afsharipour’s 27-yard touchdown scamper pushed the Wildcats’ lead back to two scores early in the fourth quarter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2025
Orchards, wildernesses and bowers abound in her fiction, where her heroines contemplate curated views or scamper across fields and over stiles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
Her range of passing put the ever-impressive Meg Jones into a hole, before another lovely wide ball gave Abby Dow space to scamper in for her 50th England try.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025
There was a soft scamper across the linoleum, and we turned just in time to see a little white tail bounce out the door into the living room.
From "Bunnicula" by Deborah Howe and James Howe
A dog called Colin scampers across the earthquake's wreckage in Morocco's remote mountain village of Douzrou.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2023
And just as Rapp promised, Davis scampers into the end zone for the game-winning score.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2022
Former Stanford rusher Austin Jones had two touchdown scampers, ex-Oregon tailback Travis Dye thrived at pass protection and freshman Raleek Brown showed off his athleticism.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2022
He scampers to the end zone, an unstoppable force meeting no immovable object, and the Orange student section is set ablaze with chants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2022
One after another scurries forward and pokes at my loose hair and then scampers off to the others, giggling.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
The rapid Australia wing scampered clear and fed Lonergan for the home side's bonus-point score.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Mikal Bridges scampered back for a leaning, desperate three that swished straight through.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
On Friday, desert iguanas and whiptails scampered across an access road, portions of which wind through the national park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
All represent some semblance of taste, an attribute that’s scampered up the ranks of desirability in the AI era.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
He of course never put a foot wrong as they scampered in a perfect pattern, round and round the floor.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
The sport isn’t the same without Carlos Alcaraz, its sunny, electric, endlessly scampering 23-year-old acrobat from Spain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
James Lankford, of Oklahoma, quickly confirmed that he hasn’t gotten a pair from the president before scampering up a set of stairs labeled “Senators Only.”
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
Then, he satirizes conservatives’ discomfort with his Blackness by sitting silently as Martin Short, playing a nervous young Republican delivering a hackneyed diatribe, shudders in his presence before scampering offstage to fall apart.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2026
The children started playing, scampering up piles of debris.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2025
There was an old bristling boar too, and a score of assorted piglets scampering underfoot.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
