scavenger
noun
scav·en·ger
| \ ˈska-vən-jər
\
\
Definition of scavenger
1
chiefly British
: a person employed to remove dirt and refuse from streets
2
: one that scavenges: such as
a
: a garbage collector
b
: a junk collector
c
: a chemically active substance acting to make innocuous or remove an undesirable substance
3
: an organism that typically feeds on refuse or carrion
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Examples of scavenger in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Back then, theories ran the gamut from a government conspiracy and UFOs to natural deaths and scavengers. — oregonlive.com, "Mysterious Oregon cattle killings, mutilations alarm ranchers," 22 Aug. 2019 Yellow jackets are scavengers and will bedevil you at backyard cookouts. — Joan Morris, The Mercury News, "Going out on a limb to protect Bay Area paper wasps," 26 Aug. 2019 That’s because the birds are naturally kleptoparasitic scavengers, meaning one of their feeding strategies is to steal food from other animals. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "The Scientists Who Stared at Gulls," 8 Aug. 2019 The university's ground crew builds the cages that go over top of the bodies to make sure large scavengers don't get to the corpse while scientists are studying it. — David Jesse, Detroit Free Press, "Bodies are studied, not buried at Northern Michigan University's cemetery," 19 July 2019 However, the Safai Karamchari Andolan, an organisation run by Magsaysay awardee Bezwada Wilson, and working for the development of manual scavengers, paints a different picture. — Niharika Sharma, Quartz India, "India’s most demeaning job killed over 100 people in two years, but is anyone bothered?," 28 June 2019 Bodies are exposed to the elements, with metal cage-like structures over top of them to protect them from scavengers. — David Jesse, Detroit Free Press, "Bodies are studied, not buried at Northern Michigan University's cemetery," 19 July 2019 Shenzi, whose pack of scavengers have been chafing under the rule of a big jungle cat who decides who eats whom and when, is only too happy to aid and abet Scar’s coup. — Michael O'sullivan, Twin Cities, "‘The Lion King’ feels way more like ‘Hamlet’ this time — and that’s why it’s so good," 18 July 2019 So in came the scavengers, to buy those mines for cheap, with vague promises to renew them. — David Roberts, Vox, "Coal left Appalachia devastated. Now it’s doing the same to Wyoming.," 9 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scavenger.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for scavenger
scavenger
noun
scav·en·ger
| \ ˈska-vən-jər
\
\
Kids Definition of scavenger
1
: a person who picks over junk or garbage for useful items
2
: an animal (as a vulture) that feeds on dead or decaying material
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