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View synonyms for scavenge

scavenge

[ skav-inj ]

verb (used with object)

, scav·enged, scav·eng·ing.
  1. to take or gather (something usable) from discarded material.
  2. to cleanse of filth, as a street.
  3. to expel burnt gases from (the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine).
  4. Metallurgy. to purify (molten metal) by introducing a substance that will combine chemically with impurities.


verb (used without object)

, scav·enged, scav·eng·ing.
  1. to act as a scavenger.
  2. (of an engine or cylinder) to become scavenged of burnt gases.
  3. to search, especially for food.

scavenge

/ ˈskævɪndʒ /

verb

  1. to search for (anything usable) among discarded material
  2. tr to purify (a molten metal) by bubbling a suitable gas through it. The gas may be inert or may react with the impurities
  3. to clean up filth from (streets, etc)
  4. chem to act as a scavenger for (atoms, molecules, ions, radicals, etc)


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Other Words From

  • un·scavenged adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of scavenge1

First recorded in 1635–45; back formation from scavenger

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Example Sentences

One Halloween when I was in elementary school, I scavenged through my closet in search of an outfit.

What’s more, the presence of preserved Neandertal footprints at the site suggests that the ancient hominids foraged there and may have preyed upon young elephants or scavenged dead elephants or other creatures, Martin says.

The best thing to do when you want new clothing is to scavenge the forgotten pieces from your own closet or shop secondhand.

At Ice Lake last summer, people left unburied feces around the lake, lit fires in the fragile alpine environment with wood scavenged from historic mining structures, and trampled vegetation that may take hundreds of years to recover.

They hunted when hunting made sense, scavenged when scavenging made sense, and otherwise explored, investigated, and took risks.

And towns on the edge of their range have and will experience more interaction as the bears arrive to scavenge.

In middle school, the young boy would scavenge nearby trash yards in the capital of Freetown to find parts for his inventions.

People have to scavenge or make everything, either by themselves or as part of a cooperative community.

Inspired us to scavenge for even more erotic bedtime reading.

He will scavenge any book in any language for another puzzle piece.

It was not implied that it was part of the duty of the Bembridge green committee to scavenge the seashore.

Neglect of local authority to scavenge after undertaking to do so, 5s.

The symbiote might produce sugars, scavenge the blood of toxins—there are so many things it could do.

There was a fair chance this early that he could scavenge something edible.

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