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.
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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 )
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(tr) to treat meanly
he is scrimping his children
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(tr) to cut too small
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
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
She meets and marries fellow student Jen Chao-Pe, and together they move into a dilapidated walk-up in Washington Heights, where Agnes learns to scrimp and save and paint her own walls.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025
"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
I was destined to scrimp and save and worry about money for the rest of my life.
From Salon • Oct. 8, 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
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.
