scrimp

American  

[skrimp] / skrɪmp /

verb (used without object)

• scrimps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrimped,
  past participle,  past
• scrimping
  present participle

1. to be sparing or frugal; economize (often followed byon ).

   They scrimped and saved for everything they have. He spends most of his money on clothes, and scrimps on food.

   Synonyms:

   scrape, save, stint, skimp

---

verb (used with object)

• scrimps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrimped,
  past participle,  past
• scrimping
  present participle

1. to be sparing or restrictive of or in; limit severely.

   to scrimp food.

2. to keep on short allowance; provide sparingly for.

   to scrimp their elderly parents.

scrimp British  

/ skrɪmp /

verb

1. to be very economical or sparing in the use (of) (esp in the phrase scrimp and save )

2. (tr) to treat meanly

   he is scrimping his children

3. (tr) to cut too small

---

adjective

1. a less common word for scant

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scrimpiness
  noun
• scrimpy
  adjective
• unscrimped
  adjective
• scrimpily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• scrimping
  present
• scrimped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scrimp
  simple
• scrimps
  simple
• have scrimped
  perfect
• has scrimped
  perfect
• am scrimping
  progressive
• are scrimping
  progressive
• is scrimping
  progressive
• have been scrimping
  perfect progressive
• has been scrimping
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrimped
  simple
• had scrimped
  perfect
• was scrimping
  progressive
• were scrimping
  progressive
• had been scrimping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scrimp
  simple
• will have scrimped
  perfect
• will be scrimping
  progressive
• will have been scrimping
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scrimp scrimps scrimped scrimping

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

"It can be really really hard when you're having to scrimp and save and spend so much time thinking and organising and figuring out where the food is going to come from," she says.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2025

You might want to scrimp and save, but this isn’t the time for that.

From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2024

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

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 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

Yet no matter how much the 58-year-old scrimps and saves, shopping at discount stores, she never has enough.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2016

Na, he seldom scrimps 't to them 'at follows his biddin'.

From Warlock o' Glenwarlock by George MacDonald

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

Related: ‘I worked very hard’: I’m 71 and have $6 million after scrimping and saving.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026

"It's literally scrimping and scraping to be able to manage to get one lesson a week," she says.

From BBC ● May 24, 2025

Like many of their class and generation, my grandparents never traveled anywhere, but after scrimping and saving, they did, finally, make it to Hawaii.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023

Because she could not bear to turn away one needing help, she was always saving and scrimping so as to take care of more.

From Honey-Sweet by Edna Henry Lee Turpin

Related Words

• cut back
• skimp