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mooch

 - 2 dictionary results

mooch

[mooch] Slang.
–verb (used with object)
1. to borrow (a small item or amount) without intending to return or repay it.
2. to get or take without paying or at another's expense; sponge: He always mooches cigarettes.
3. to beg.
4. to steal.
–verb (used without object)
5. to skulk or sneak.
6. to loiter or wander about.
–noun
7. Also, moocher. a person who mooches.
Also, mouch.


Origin:
1425–75; late ME, appar. var. of ME michen < OF muchier to skulk, hide
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mooch   (mōōch)   
v.   mooched, mooch·ing, mooch·es

v.   tr.
  1. To obtain or try to obtain by begging; cadge. See Synonyms at cadge.

  2. To steal; filch.

v.   intr.
  1. To get or try to get something free of charge; sponge: lived by mooching off friends.

  2. To wander about aimlessly.

  3. To skulk around; sneak.

n.  
  1. One who begs or cadges; a sponge.

  2. A dupe, as in a confidence game.


[Middle English mowchen, probably from Old French muchier, to hide, skulk.]
mooch'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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