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scavenge
[skav-inj]
verb (used with object)
to take or gather (something usable) from discarded material.
to cleanse of filth, as a street.
to expel burnt gases from (the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine).
Metallurgy., to purify (molten metal) by introducing a substance that will combine chemically with impurities.
verb (used without object)
to act as a scavenger.
(of an engine or cylinder) to become scavenged of burnt gases.
to search, especially for food.
scavenge
/ ˈskævɪndʒ /
verb
to search for (anything usable) among discarded material
(tr) to purify (a molten metal) by bubbling a suitable gas through it. The gas may be inert or may react with the impurities
to clean up filth from (streets, etc)
chem to act as a scavenger for (atoms, molecules, ions, radicals, etc)
Other Word Forms
- unscavenged adjective
Word History and Origins
Example Sentences
Some will double their weight to prepare for wintertime hibernation, often scavenging for calories for up to 20 hours per day.
Overwhelming firepower dislodged them in June, but the militants blew the bridge connecting the two settlements as they withdrew -- using so much dynamite that there was barely a scrap left to scavenge.
Some researchers have suggested that humans and wolves came together almost by accident, when wolves moved to the outskirts of hunter-gatherer communities to scavenge for food.
People walk along muddied roads scavenging the wreckage for food.
Under the floorboards of her closet, Smith conceals “glittering refuse I had scavenged from trash bins, fragments of costume jewelry, rosary beads,” along with a blue toothbrush she’s invested with magical powers.
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