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scamp - 7 dictionary results
scamp
[skamp] 
–noun
| 1. | an unscrupulous and often mischievous person; rascal; rogue; scalawag. |
| 2. | a playful, mischievous, or naughty young person; upstart. |
| 3. | a grouper, Mycteroperca phenax, of Florida: so called from its habit of stealing bait. |
–verb (used with object)
| 4. | to do or perform in a hasty or careless manner: to scamp work. |
Origin:
1775–85; obs. scamp to travel about idly or for mischief, perh. < obs. D schampen to be gone < OF escamper to decamp
1775–85; obs. scamp to travel about idly or for mischief, perh. < obs. D schampen to be gone < OF escamper to decamp
Related forms:
scamper, noun
scamp⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
scampish, adjective
scamp⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
scamp⋅ish⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To scamp
| scamp 1 (skāmp) n.
[Probably from scamp, to go about idly, probably from obsolete Dutch schampen, to decamp, from Middle Dutch ontscampen; see scamper.] |
| scamp 2 (skāmp) tr.v. scamped, scamp·ing, scamps To perform in a careless superficial way. [Possibly of Scandinavian origin.] scamp'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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Scamp
Scamp\ (sk[a^]mp), n. [OF. escamper to run away, to make one's escape. Originally, one who runs away, a fugitive, a vagabond. See Scamper.] A rascal; a swindler; a rogue. --De Quincey.Scamp
Scamp\, v. t. [Cf. Scamp,n., or Scant, a., and Skimp.] To perform in a hasty, neglectful, or imperfect manner; to do superficially. [Colloq.] A workman is said to scamp his work when he does it in a superficial, dishonest manner. --Wedgwood. Much of the scamping and dawdling complained of is that of men in establishments of good repute. --T. Hughes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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scamp (n.)
1782, "highway robber," probably from dialectal verb scamp "to roam" (1753), shortened from scamper. Used affectionately in sense "rascal" since 1808.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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