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 word "mouch" is not often heard outside towns, for wandering beggars say "call."

    Beggars | W. H. (William Henry) Davies
  • "We'll just have a little mouch round," she said, confidentially.

    The Boss of Taroomba | E. W. Hornung
  • They mouch round the walls if it's fine, like it is, and if it's raining they mouch round the Minster.

    Rich Relatives | Compton Mackenzie
  • The baby will infallibly whimper, and the dog will infallibly mouch off.

    The Human Machine | E. Arnold Bennett

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