Link Centre Dictionary

scrounge

UK/ˈskɹaːnd͡ʒ/ US/ˈskɹaʊ̯nd͡ʒ/ uncommon

verb

1.

collect or look around for (food)

Synonyms
2.

obtain or seek to obtain by cadging or wheedling

  • “he is always shnorring cigarettes from his friends”
Synonyms

Origin

1915, alteration of dialectal scrunge ("to search stealthily, rummage, pilfer") (1909), of uncertain origin, perhaps from dialectal scringe ("to pry about"); or perhaps related to scrouge, scrooge ("push, jostle") (1755, also Cockney slang for "a crowd"), probably suggestive of screw, squeeze. Popularized by the military in World War I.

Phrases

  • on the scrounge
  • scrounge down
  • scrounge out
  • scrounge up

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.