mooch

or mouch

[ mooch ]
See synonyms for mooch on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. to beg.

  2. to steal.

verb (used without object)
  1. to skulk or sneak.

  2. to loiter or wander about.

noun
  1. Also moocher. a person who mooches.

Origin of mooch

1
1425–75; late Middle English, apparently variant of Middle English michen<Old French muchier to skulk, hide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mooch in a sentence

  • The ol moocher sure has got em trained, Iron Hair, said Raftery.

    The Snow-Burner | Henry Oyen
  • The inmates were principally in pairs; each moocher had his Judy (wife), and each little kid had his little Moll (sister).

    Tramping with Tramps | Josiah Flynt
  • I know what they wants—they think I'm a purty good moocher, 'n' they'll make sinkers out o' me.

    Tramping with Tramps | Josiah Flynt
  • I discovered that what we would call a Tramp over here was a Moocher over there.

    Continuous Vaudeville | Will M. Cressy
  • The English moocher has to resort to his "gag," and his "lurks" are almost innumerable.

    Tramping with Tramps | Josiah Flynt

British Dictionary definitions for mooch

mooch

/ (muːtʃ) /


verbslang
  1. (intr often foll by around) to loiter or walk aimlessly

  2. (intr) to behave in an apathetic way

  1. (intr) to sneak or lurk; skulk

  2. (tr) to cadge

  3. (tr) mainly US and Canadian to steal

Origin of mooch

1
C17: perhaps from Old French muchier to skulk

Derived forms of mooch

  • moocher, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012