scavenge

[skav-inj]

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verb (used with object), scav·enged, scav·eng·ing.

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), scav·enged, scav·eng·ing.

to act as a scavenger.

(of an engine or cylinder) to become scavenged of burnt gases.

to search, especially for food.

Origin of scavenge

First recorded in 1635–45; back formation from scavenger

Related formsun·scav·enged, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for scavenge

skulk, slink, lurk, tramp, stroll, roam, patrol, hunt, sneak, range, stalk, snake, rove, cruise, steal

Examples from the Web for scavenge

Contemporary Examples of scavenge

And towns on the edge of their range have and will experience more interaction as the bears arrive to scavenge.
How Climate Change Is Causing Chaos in the Animal Kingdom
Nina Strochlic
January 23, 2014
People have to scavenge or make everything, either by themselves or as part of a cooperative community.
Where are the Bicycles in Post-Apocalyptic Fiction?
Megan McArdle
January 28, 2013
Inspired us to scavenge for even more erotic bedtime reading.
50 Ways ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Has Changed the World
Lizzie Crocker
December 20, 2012
He will scavenge any book in any language for another puzzle piece.
Umberto Eco’s 'The Prague Cemetery' Brings to Life Ancient Hate
Daniel Levin
November 12, 2011

Historical Examples of scavenge

Neglect of local authority to scavenge after undertaking to do so, 5s.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II
Arnold Cooley
There was a fair chance this early that he could scavenge something edible.
Badge of Infamy
Lester del Rey
The symbiote might produce sugars, scavenge the blood of toxins—there are so many things it could do.
Planet of the Damned
Harry Harrison
It was not implied that it was part of the duty of the Bembridge green committee to scavenge the seashore.
Fifty Years of Golf
Horace G. Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for scavenge

scavenge

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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scavenge

1640s, back-formation from scavenger. Related: Scavenged; scavenging.