scavenge
verb/ˈskævɪndʒ/
/ˈskævɪndʒ/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they scavenge | /ˈskævɪndʒ/ /ˈskævɪndʒ/ |
| he / she / it scavenges | /ˈskævɪndʒɪz/ /ˈskævɪndʒɪz/ |
| past simple scavenged | /ˈskævɪndʒd/ /ˈskævɪndʒd/ |
| past participle scavenged | /ˈskævɪndʒd/ /ˈskævɪndʒd/ |
| -ing form scavenging | /ˈskævɪndʒɪŋ/ /ˈskævɪndʒɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] (of a person, an animal or a bird) to search through waste for things that can be used or eaten
- scavenge something (from something) Much of their furniture was scavenged from other people's garbage.
- scavenge (through something) (for something) Dogs and foxes scavenged through the trash cans for something to eat.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [transitive, intransitive] (of animals or birds) to eat dead animals that have been killed by another animal, by a car, etc.
- scavenge something Crows scavenge carrion left on the roads.
- scavenge (on something) Some fish scavenge on dead fish in the wild.
Word Originmid 17th cent. (in the sense ‘clean out (dirt)’): back-formation from scavenger.
Check pronunciation:
scavenge