scrimp
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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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.
verb
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to be very economical or sparing in the use (of) (esp in the phrase scrimp and save )
-
(tr) to treat meanly
he is scrimping his children
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(tr) to cut too small
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scrimpsimple
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scrimpssimple
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have scrimpedperfect
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has scrimpedperfect
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am scrimpingprogressive
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are scrimpingprogressive
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is scrimpingprogressive
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have been scrimpingperfect progressive
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has been scrimpingperfect progressive
Past
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scrimpedsimple
-
had scrimpedperfect
-
was scrimpingprogressive
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were scrimpingprogressive
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had been scrimpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scrimp
First recorded in 1710–20; from Scandinavian; compare Swedish skrympa, Norwegian, Danish skrumpe (originally from an unattested skrimpa, ) “to shrivel,” cognate with Middle High German schrimpfen “to contract”; see origin at shrimp
Explanation
When you scrimp, you get by on very little money. If you scrimp all year long in order to buy tickets to the Stanley Cup finals, you save every last penny to be able to go to those games. If you scrimp, yes, you are watching every dime trying to spend as little as you can — for the purpose of saving your money. Maybe you walk everywhere to avoid paying for a bus ride, or you make your friends cut your hair. Scrimp looks like shrink and scrape and that's the goal: shrinking the amount of money you spend to scrape together some savings, for a specific purpose or just the security of having money in the bank.
Vocabulary lists containing scrimp
Born a Crime
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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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:
However, I don’t want my son to think that I will take care of everything and that he doesn’t have to work hard and scrimp and save.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
The result is that many families shoulder the work themselves, losing out on paid employment, or elderly people scrimp on needed assistance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
I was destined to scrimp and save and worry about money for the rest of my life.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2024
He grew up in rural Catalonia, where as a child his parents had to scrimp and save to buy the four-volume set of anatomy textbooks he now keeps on a shelf in his office.
From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024
This book was too important to scrimp on details.
From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman
Down the hall, 56-year-old Janine Cox gets an occasional bag of chips from the vending machine and scrimps to add to the collection plate at church.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
Don’t let all this talk of characters give you the impression that Vikings scrimps on the action, though.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 13, 2017
If your mom scrimps on tools, you know she won't buy garden decor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2016
If I have one criticism of Passan’s book, it is that he scrimps on the history of pitchers’ arms.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2016
Na, he seldom scrimps 't to them 'at follows his biddin'.
From Warlock o' Glenwarlock by MacDonald, George
I grew up in an era where you scrimped and saved and did not indulge in luxuries.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
Perhaps they might think of their parents who weren’t able to have a “maximum level of enjoyment” while they scrimped and saved to come up with $86,926 for tuition and fees each year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2025
Trevor Barnard, electrician at Markham Main: "It was hard, I mean it was like living back in the 1800s where you scrimped and scraped. You tried to save on everything you could."
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
She scrimped to buy him his first electric guitar and she encouraged him to be a musician.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
He promises to choose wise investments there and multiply the several thousand dollars the couple has scrimped to save.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
“We have been scrimping for a long time.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
Shoppers are not necessarily scrimping on their holiday budgets, but amid economic uncertainty and a cooling labor market, they’re more focused on scoring the best deals, data suggest.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 26, 2025
"It's literally scrimping and scraping to be able to manage to get one lesson a week," she says.
From BBC ● May 24, 2025
With housing prices falling and stocks prices limping along, even middle-class families are scrimping rather than spending.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
Or perhaps, it should be added, a third result may come about; the woman accepts the man's ideal of life and joins with him in their scrimping campaign.
From The Nervous Housewife by Myerson, Abraham
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.
