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scamp

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Scamp
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scamp

  [skamp]
Use scamp in a Sentence
–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

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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Scamp
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scamp 1   (skāmp)   
n.  

  1. A rogue; a rascal.

  2. A mischievous youngster.


[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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Slang Dictionary
scamp [skæmp]

  1. n.
    a small child. : There are three little scamps at the door saying, “Trick or treat!”
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

scamp  (n.)
1782, "highway robber," probably from dialectal verb scamp "to roam" (1753), shortened from scamper. Used affectionately in sense "rascal" since 1808.

scamp  (v.)
"do in a hasty manner," 1837, perhaps from a Scand. source (cf. O.N. skemma "to shorten," from skammr "short"), or a blend of scant and skimp (q.v.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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