scavenging

Variant of scavenge

scavenge definition

scav·enge (skav′inj)

transitive verb scavenged -·enged, scavenging -·eng·ing

  1. to clean up (streets, alleys, etc.); remove rubbish, dirt, or garbage from
  2. to salvage (usable goods) by rummaging through refuse or discards
  3. to remove burned gases from (the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine)
  4. Metallurgy to clean (molten metal) by using a substance that will combine chemically with the impurities present

Etymology: back-form. < scavenger

intransitive verb

  1. to act as a scavenger
  2. to look for food

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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