scrimp

[ skrimp ]

/ skrɪmp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scrimp ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to be sparing or frugal; economize (often followed by on): They scrimped and saved for everything they have. He spends most of his money on clothes, and scrimps on food.

verb (used with object)

to be sparing or restrictive of or in; limit severely: to scrimp food.

to keep on short allowance; provide sparingly for: to scrimp their elderly parents.

RELATED WORDS

skimp, curtail, save, conserve

Nearby words

scribe, augustin eugène, scriber, scrim, scrimmage, scrimmage line, scrimp, scrimp and save, scrimpy, scrimshander, scrimshank, scrimshaw

Origin of scrimp

1710–20; < Scandinavian; compare Swedish skrympa, Norwegian, Danish skrumpe (orig. *skrimpa, strong v.) to shrivel, cognate with Middle High German schrimpfen to contract; see shrimp

SYNONYMS FOR scrimp

1 skimp, stint, save, scrape.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scrimp ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·scrimped, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for scrimp

He decides instead to “scrimp and save”—and to collect aluminum cans on Capitol Hill to make up the difference.
Speed Read: 11 Best Bits from Joe Biden Satire ‘The President of Vice’|Caroline Linton|January 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And so they live beyond their means or else they scrimp and suffer.
Through the Eye of the Needle|William Dean Howells
Mrs. Scrimp was a woman of theories also, and her pet one accorded well with the aforementioned characteristic.
Grandmother Elsie|Martha Finley
Mrs. Scrimp and Gracie were already seated at the table and had began their meal.
Grandmother Elsie|Martha Finley

We don't any of us begrutch it to ye; and what I came up to say now was, don't you scrimp yourself down there to send home to us.
The Minister's Charge|William Dean Howells
William is a lot older than I am, and he controlled me—always—made me economize, scrimp, and save.
The Next of Kin|Nellie L. McClung

British Dictionary definitions for scrimp

scrimp

/ (skrɪmp) /

verb

(when intr, sometimes foll by on) to be very economical or sparing in the use (of) (esp in the phrase scrimp and save)

(tr) to treat meanlyhe is scrimping his children

(tr) to cut too small

adjective

a less common word for scant

Derived Formsscrimpy, adjectivescrimpily, adverbscrimpiness, noun

Word Origin for scrimp

C18: Scottish, origin unknown

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 scrimp

scrimp

"to make too small," 1774, originally in English an adjective, "scant, meager" (1718), possibly from a Scandinavian source (cf. Swedish skrumpna "to shrink, shrivel up," Danish skrumpen "shrunken, shriveled"), or from a continental Germanic source akin to Middle High German schrimpfen, German schrumpfen "to shrivel," from Proto-Germanic *skrimp-, from PIE root *(s)kerb- "to turn, bend." Related: Scrimped; scrimping.