scrounge

American  

[skrounj] / skraʊndʒ /

Also scrounger

verb (used with object)

• scrounges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrounged,
  past participle,  past
• scrounging
  present participle

1. to borrow (a small amount or item) with no intention of repaying or returning it.

   to scrounge a cigarette.

2. to gather together by foraging; seek out.

   We'll try to scrounge enough food for supper from the neighbors.

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verb (used without object)

• scrounges,
  present (3rd person singular)
• scrounged,
  past participle,  past
• scrounging
  present participle

1. to borrow, especially a small item one is not expected to return or replace.

noun

1. a habitual borrower; sponger.

2. an act or instance of scrounging.

3. a person who exists by foraging.

verb phrase

1. scrounge around to search or forage for something, especially in a haphazard or disorganized fashion; hunt for.

   We scrounged around for something to eat.

scrounge British  

/ skraʊndʒ /

verb

1. to search in order to acquire (something) without cost

2. to obtain or seek to obtain (something) by cadging or begging

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scrounger
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• scrounging
  present
• scrounged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• scrounge
  simple
• scrounges
  simple
• have scrounged
  perfect
• has scrounged
  perfect
• am scrounging
  progressive
• are scrounging
  progressive
• is scrounging
  progressive
• have been scrounging
  perfect progressive
• has been scrounging
  perfect progressive

Past

• scrounged
  simple
• had scrounged
  perfect
• was scrounging
  progressive
• were scrounging
  progressive
• had been scrounging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will scrounge
  simple
• will have scrounged
  perfect
• will be scrounging
  progressive
• will have been scrounging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of scrounge

First recorded in 1905–10; alteration of dial. scringe to glean

Explanation

When you scrounge, you borrow, scavenge, or forage for something. Somehow or other, you're going to have to scrounge up enough money to pay your sister back for that loan. Scrounge can essentially mean "root around looking for something," like when you scrounge for a snack in your grandparents' refrigerator. It also means to obtain something by wheedling or talking someone into giving it to you. If your best friend gets tired of you scrounging money for snacks and movie tickets, you may finally have to get a job.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scrounge scrounges scrounged scrounging

Rescuers used what tools they could scrounge — shovels, hoes, pickaxes, their bare hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

While some landlords offer a short grace period for renters to scrounge together enough cash, fintech companies are offering a different deal: split your rent into installments throughout the month.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 13, 2026

Presumably the gambit is to catch Mr. Powell for lying to Congress regarding the office renovations or scrounge for details in search of some other so far undetected offense.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026

“It was absolutely horrendous. We were really struggling, having to scrounge around for masks and gloves,“ says Mandi Masters, a community midwife from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2024

Whoever they were, they were rough, hardened men who looked like they’d been living in the jungle for a long time, eating what they could scrounge, sleeping on the ground.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Broke and missing his passport but infused with a traveler’s spirit, Khalid scrounges for odd jobs — restaurant work, cleaning the marina, painting someone’s boat — to make enough money to fly back.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2024

But tools can be misplaced, lost or destroyed, potentially leaving guns inoperable unless someone scrounges up a U.S.-supplied wrench.

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2022

Abu Malek said he scrounges the items needed for the inflatables.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 8, 2020

Our hero actually chooses to stay very close to his family - he hides in his home’s unheated garage attic and scrounges for food in Dumpsters.

From Washington Times ● May 16, 2017

Ratty scrounges a prime rope fra' somewheers, an' we creeps out after nightfall.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, June 11, 1919 by Various

Held together with scrounged parts and ingenuity, Iran’s aging jets are falling in dogfights.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026

He scrounged together stopgap university funding and outside donations to keep the operation running “on fumes,” vowing “to go down swinging.”

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025

In the end, the Sheriff’s Department said it scrounged up nearly 100 buses, borrowing from nearby counties, the state prison system and the local public transit system in case the winds shifted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2025

When they emerged from their hiding places in the aftermath of the first day and scrounged for food in the following years of darkness, the world was fundamentally changed.

From Slate ● Oct. 21, 2024

We cleared out a drawer to make room for Käthe’s under things and extra skirt—illegally scrounged with Julie’s coupons.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Of late, investors scrounging for stocks have preferred junk —smaller companies with poor fundamentals and exorbitant valuations—over quality companies with healthy sales and earnings growth, solid balance sheets, and more attractive prices.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

Analysts are scrounging for any signal about the economy’s trajectory this month because the government shutdown has turned off the spigot of official government data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

At times, she has resorted to scrounging up used parts or using screws from the hardware store to repair it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024

Friends, my family included, have been scrounging for fans, dehumidifiers, and sump pumps to lend to friends affected by the flood.

From Slate ● Aug. 9, 2024

Peter made himself very popular with everyone because whenever he came back from one of his successful scrounging quests, he would share out all he could.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo