scavenger
noun
- organism that feeds on dead animals or plants
- type of chemical
- person who collect recyclable materials from trash
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈskæv.ən.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/
noun
Etymology: Originally from Middle English scavager, from Anglo-Norman scawageour (“one who had to do with scavage, inspector, tax collector”), from Old Northern French *scawage, escauwage (“scavage”), Old French *scavage, escavage, alteration of escauvinghe (compare Medieval Latin scewinga, sceawinga), from Old Dutch scauwōn (“to inspect, to examinate, to look at”). Usually reinterpreted/re-analysed today as scavenge (which was originally a backformation from this word) + -er. Compare Old English sċēawung (“a showing, spectacle, examination, inspection, toll on exposure of goods”) and Dutch schouwing (“inspection”). More at show.
- Someone who scavenges, especially one who searches through rubbish for food or useful things.
“garbage scavenger”
“A scavenger picked through the rubbish heap.”
- An animal that feeds on decaying matter such as carrion.
“Vultures are natural scavengers.”
- A street sweeper.
- A child employed to pick up loose cotton from the floor in a cotton mill.
- A substance used to remove impurities from the air or from a solution.
verb
Etymology: Originally from Middle English scavager, from Anglo-Norman scawageour (“one who had to do with scavage, inspector, tax collector”), from Old Northern French *scawage, escauwage (“scavage”), Old French *scavage, escavage, alteration of escauvinghe (compare Medieval Latin scewinga, sceawinga), from Old Dutch scauwōn (“to inspect, to examinate, to look at”). Usually reinterpreted/re-analysed today as scavenge (which was originally a backformation from this word) + -er. Compare Old English sċēawung (“a showing, spectacle, examination, inspection, toll on exposure of goods”) and Dutch schouwing (“inspection”). More at show.
- To scavenge.
- To clean the rubbish from a street, etc.