scavenger
Use Scavenger in a sentence
ɪn noun
1.
an animal or other organism that feeds on dead organic matter.
2.
a person who searches through and collects items from discarded material.
3.
a street cleaner.
4.
Chemistry. a chemical that consumes or renders inactive the impurities in a mixture.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To scavenger
00:10
Scavenger
is always a great word to know.
So is combustion. Does it mean:
| a colorless, flammable gas, C4H10, a saturated aliphatic existing in two isometric forms: used chiefly in the manufacture of rubber and as fuel |
| rapid oxidation accompanied by heat and light, or a chemical combination attended by production of heat and light |
Collins
World English Dictionary
scavenger (ˈskævɪndʒə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a person who collects things discarded by others |
| 2. | any animal that feeds on decaying organic matter, esp on refuse |
| 3. | a substance added to a chemical reaction or mixture to counteract the effect of impurities |
| 4. | a person employed to clean the streets |
| [C16: from Anglo-Norman scawager, from Old Norman French escauwage examination, from escauwer to scrutinize, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish scauwen] | |
| 'scavengery | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
scavenger
originally "person hired to remove refuse from streets," from M.E. scawageour (1373), London official in charge of collecting tax on goods sold by foreign merchants, from Anglo-Fr. scawager, from scawage "toll or duty on goods offered for sale in one's precinct" (1402), from O.N.Fr. escauwage "inspection,"
from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. scouwon, O.E. sceawian "to look at, inspect," see show). With intrusive -n- (1503) as in harbinger, passenger, messenger. Extended to animals 1596. The verb scavenge is a 1644 back-formation. Scavenger hunt is attested from 1940.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
| scavenger (skāv'ən-jər) Pronunciation Key
An animal that feeds on dead organisms, especially a carnivorous animal that eats dead animals rather than or in addition to hunting live prey. Vultures, hyenas, and wolves are scavengers. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
scavenger
animal that feeds partly or wholly on the bodies of dead animals. Many invertebrates, such as carrion beetles, live almost entirely on decomposing animal matter. The burying beetles actually enter the dead bodies of small animals before feeding on them underground
Learn more about scavenger with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Yahoo has created some promotions for advertisers in the vein of scavenger hunts, he adds, but none as elaborate as this one.
Scavenger species, such as vultures, are also controlled by the activity of the mountain lion.
Break students into pairs to work on a map-based scavenger hunt.
Some cite this as evidence that t rex was a scavenger.
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