 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
scavenger
noun
1: a chemical agent that is added to a chemical mixture to
counteract the effects of impurities
2: someone who collects things that have been discarded by
others [syn: {magpie}, {pack rat}]
3: any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic
matter
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Scavenger \Scav"en*ger\, noun [OE. scavager an officer with
various duties, originally attending to scavage, fr. OE. & E.
scavage. See {Scavage}, {Show}, v.]
A person whose employment is to clean the streets of a city,
by scraping or sweeping, and carrying off the filth. The name
is also applied to any animal which devours refuse, carrion,
or anything injurious to health.
{Scavenger beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any beetle which feeds on
decaying substances, as the carrion beetle.
{Scavenger crab} (Zo["o]l.), any crab which feeds on dead
animals, as the spider crab.
{Scavenger's daughter} [corrupt. of Skevington's daughter],
an instrument of torture invented by Sir W. Skevington,
which so compressed the body as to force the blood to flow
from the nostrils, and sometimes from the hands and feet.
--Am. Cyc.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
34 Moby Thesaurus words for "scavenger":
amphibian, aquatic, biped, canine, cannibal, carnivore,
chimney sweep, cleanser, cosmopolite, crossing sweeper, feline,
flue cleaner, gnawer, herbivore, insectivore, invertebrate, mammal,
mammalian, marsupial, marsupialian, omnivore, primate, quadruped,
reptile, rodent, ruminant, street sweeper, sweep, sweeper,
ungulate, varmint, vermin, vertebrate, whitewing
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