scamp

[ skamp ]
See synonyms for: scampscampedscampingscamper on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an unscrupulous and often mischievous person; rascal; rogue; scalawag.

  2. a playful, mischievous, or naughty young person; upstart.

  1. a grouper, Mycteroperca phenax, of Florida: so called from its habit of stealing bait.

verb (used with object)
  1. to do or perform in a hasty or careless manner: to scamp work.

Origin of scamp

1
1775–85; obsolete scamp to travel about idly or for mischief, perhaps <obsolete Dutch schampen to be gone <Old French escamper to decamp

Other words from scamp

  • scamper, noun
  • scamp·ing·ly, adverb
  • scampish, adjective
  • scamp·ish·ly, adverb
  • scamp·ish·ness, noun
  • un·scamped, adjective

Words Nearby scamp

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

How to use scamp in a sentence

  • I saw Mary Belle transformed from an ordinary playful scamp of a lamb to a primped and perfect darling of the show-ring.

British Dictionary definitions for scamp (1 of 2)

scamp1

/ (skæmp) /


noun
  1. an idle mischievous person; rascal

  2. a mischievous child

Origin of scamp

1
C18: from scamp (vb) to be a highway robber, probably from Middle Dutch schampen to decamp, from Old French escamper, from es- ex- 1 + -camper, from Latin campus field

Derived forms of scamp

  • scampish, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for scamp (2 of 2)

scamp2

/ (skæmp) /


verb
  1. a less common word for skimp

Derived forms of scamp

  • scamper, 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