scavenge

verb

scav·​enge ˈska-vənj 

-vinj

scavenged; scavenging

transitive verb

1

a(1)

: to remove (dirt, refuse, etc.) from an area

(2)

: to clean away dirt or refuse from : cleanse

scavenge a street

b

: to feed on (carrion or refuse)

2

a

: to remove (burned gases) from the cylinder of an internal combustion engine after a working stroke

b

: to remove (something, such as an undesirable constituent) from a substance or region by chemical or physical means

c

: to clean and purify (molten metal) by taking up foreign elements in chemical union

3

: to salvage from discarded or refuse material

also : to salvage usable material from

intransitive verb

: to work or act as a scavenger

Examples of scavenge in a Sentence

Rats scavenged in the trash.

The bears scavenged the woods for food.

He scavenged the town dump for automobile parts.

Recent Examples on the Web

The man and the boy scavenge sites for life’s necessities, most notably food and weapons. —Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024

However, since their sunny destination is nine years away, the group needs to scavenge cryo pods from a derelict space outpost. —Tim Lammers, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024

The seemingly benign therapy of periodic transfusions carries its own risks, including a toxic overload of iron that has to be scavenged from the body. —Maryn McKenna, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024

The boy has plenty to do each day of the war: jumping jacks, sit-ups, pushups, gorilla swings, and tree pose during breaks from reading and doing the math in workbooks scavenged from the rubble of his school. —Beth Bachmann, The New Yorker, 25 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from scavenger

First Known Use

circa 1644, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a(1)

Kids Definition

scavenge

verb

scav·​enge ˈskav-ənj 

-inj

scavenged; scavenging

: to collect usable things from what has been discarded