scavenger

[ skav-in-jer ]

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.

scavenger

/ ˈskævɪndʒə /

noun

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

scavenger

/ skăv′ən-jər /

1. 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.

Derived Forms

• ˈscavengery, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of scavenger¹

1520–30; earlier scavager < Anglo-French scawageour, equivalent to ( e ) scawage inspection ( escaw ( er ) to inspect < Middle Dutch schauwen to look at (cognate with show ) + -age -age ) + -eour -or ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of scavenger¹

C16: from Anglo-Norman scawager, from Old Norman French escauwage examination, from escauwer to scrutinize, of Germanic origin; related to Flemish scauwen

Example Sentences

As scavengers, vultures always look for the next carcass.

From Science Daily

“I’m kind of a scavenger,” U.K.-based designer Ellen Poppy Hill says of her approach to secondhand fabric sourcing.

From Los Angeles Times

Think of it as a scavenger hunt for a person on the move with light, escape room-inspired puzzles.

From Los Angeles Times

Marini whips out some junior ranger books that depict local wildlife and feature a scavenger hunt that can be completed to earn a badge.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet that same stomach-churning tendency also causes vultures to be indispensable to human ecosystems, since the rotting carcasses contain dangerous diseases that could spread to humans if not ingested by more iron-stomached scavengers.

From Salon