scavengern.
/ˈskavəndʒə/ 1. † b. As the title of an official under the East India Company. Obsolete.
a. = scavager n. 1. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning streets > [noun] > officer supervising
scavager1477
scavenger1547
1547 in E. B. Jupp Carpenters' Co. (1887) 386 Item payd to the skavynger for hys hole yeres skavag,..ij8.
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 328 In Sepulchers parish common Counsaile six, Constables foure, Scauengers foure [etc.].
1611 Tarlton's Jests (1866) 215 When Tarlton dwelt in Gracious street..he was chosen scavenger; and often the ward complained of his slacknesse in keeping the streets cleane.
1677 R. Thoroton Antiq. Notts. 492 There is an Officer of the Town called the Scavenger, that looks to the Pavement and Streets of the Town, and attends upon the Majors wife.
1695 London Gaz. No. 3053/2 An Act for Exempting Apothecaries from Serving the Offices of Constable, Scavenger, and other Parish and Ward-Offices.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 4 The government of this ward is in one alderman,..seven scavengers, and a beadle.
1835 1st Rep. Commissioners Munic. Corporations Eng. & Wales App. i. 172 in Parl. Papers (H.C. 116) XXIII. 1 The Scavengers are appointed in the same manner. The persons usually selected for this office are the churchwardens and overseers of the poor, and they employ the paupers in sweeping the streets.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > merchant > [noun] > resident abroad > employees of East India Company
factor1600
servant1621
writer1675
scavenger1702
civilian1761
1702 MS. list in Yule s.v. John Butt, Scavenger and Cornmeeter, Tevenapatam, Merchant.
1760 Fort William Cons. in J. Long Select. Rec. Govt. relating to Bengal (1869) 245 Mr. Handle, applying to the Board to have his allowance of Scavenger increased..we allow him Rs. 20 per month more than before.
2.
a. A person whose employment is to clean streets, by scraping or sweeping together and removing dirt. †Also, a person employed to keep clean a church.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning streets > [noun] > one who
mucker1229
raker1327
canel raker?1518
masser-scourer?1518
scavenger1530
sweep-street1553
channel raker1575
broom-man1592
broom-boy1593
gutter-master1607
rake-kennel1707
fulyie man1826
road sweeper1832
crossing-sweeper1841
street orderly1848
orderly1851
scavager1851
scaffy1853
broomer1857
sweep1858
roader1883
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning other miscellaneous things > [noun] > one who cleans church
scavenger1530
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 266/1 Scavenger that clenseth stretes, bovevr.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 24/2 And as in the other vnder wardens cometh the order of scauyngers: so neither doth the popes monarchie lack his kaynilrakers.
1598 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 3 Last Bks. vi. ii. 99 To see..a cloked Frere Sweating in the channell like a Scauengere.
1642 Laws of War Army Earl Essex 21 The rest [shall] serve for Pioners and Scavengers, till a worthy exployt take off that Blot.
1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 101 The sorry scavengers who live honestly by emptying privies.
1696 Act 8 & 9 Will. III c. 37 §1 To the end the Dirt and Soyl may be heaped ready for the Scavenger to carry away.
1714 B. Mandeville Fable Bees i. Pref. sig. A7 Now would I ask if a good Citizen..might not assert, that dirty Streets are a necessary Evil inseparable from the Felicity of London,..without any Prejudice either to the Blackguard or the Scavingers.
1725–6 in J. L. Chester Westm. Abbey Reg. (1876) 316 John Chittham, Scavenger to this Church: in the South Cloister.
1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 168 The scavenger, with his brush..was clearing away a heap of mud.
1865 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend II. iv. xiv. 284 A scavenger's cart happening to stand unattended..Mr. S. found it impossible to resist the temptation of shooting Mr. Silas Wegg into the cart's contents.
b. transferred. One who or something which removes dirt or putrid matter. Applied to various animals that feed on decaying matter, esp. the scavenger beetle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by eating habits > [noun] > carnivore > scavenger
scavenger1596
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > [noun] > one who or that which cleans
fowerc1440
mundifierc1475
cleanser1570
scavenger1596
fayer1611
cleanera1792
mundatory1860
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden Ep. Ded. sig. A2 (heading) Chiefe scauinger of chins.
1614 G. Markham Swine in Cheape & Good Husb. i. 87 The Swine..is the Husbandmans best scauenger,..for his food and liuing is by that which would else rot in the yard.
1648 T. Winyard Midsummer-moone 4 Thus sinkes and common shoares are the best scavengers.
1716 E. Baynard Health 5 And Fasting's Nature's Scavenger.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. i. 10 Numerous spiders, which I suppose prey on these small attendants on, and scavengers of the waterfowl.
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 164 The sturgeons may be called the scavengers of the great rivers which they frequent.
1858 W. Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. 48/1 The argala..is extremely useful in removing noxious animals, and devouring all sorts of carrion. It is called the scavenger in Calcutta.
1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 307 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV The Silphidæ (burying or sexton beetles, scavengers, &c.).
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 719 The spider-cells..act as phagocytes or ‘scavengers’, multiplying upon and removing the degenerate nerve-elements.
c. figurative in various uses: One who collects filth; one who does ‘dirty work’; a dishonourable person. Also, in favourable sense, one who labours for the removal of public evils.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [noun] > state or quality of being contemptible > contemptible person
wormc825
wretchOE
thingOE
hinderlingc1175
harlot?c1225
mixa1300
villain1303
whelpc1330
wonnera1340
bismera1400
vilec1400
beasta1425
creaturec1450
dog bolt1465
fouling?a1475
drivel1478
shit1508
marmoset1523
mammeta1529
pilgarlica1529
pode1528
slave1537
slim1548
skit-brains?1553
grasshopper1556
scavenger1563
old boss1566
rag1566
shrub1566
ketterela1572
shake-rag1571
skybala1572
mumpsimus1573
smatchetc1582
squib1586
scabship1589
vassal1589
baboon1592
Gibraltar1593
polecat1593
mushroom1594
nodc1595
cittern-head1598
nit1598
stockfish1598
cum-twang1599
dish-wash1599
pettitoe1599
mustard-token1600
viliaco1600
cargo1602
stump1602
snotty-nose1604
sprat1605
wormling1605
brock1607
dogfly?1611
shag-rag1611
shack-rag1612
thrum1612
rabbita1616
fitchock1616
unworthy1616
baseling1618
shag1620
glow-worm1624
snip1633
the son of a worm1633
grousea1637
shab1637
wormship1648
muckworm1649
whiffler1659
prig1679
rotten egg1686
prigster1688
begged fool1693
hang-dog1693
bugger1694
reptile1697
squinny1716
snool1718
ramscallion1734
footer1748
jackass1756
hallion1789
skite1790
rattlesnake1791
snot1809
mudworm1814
skunk1816
stirrah1816
spalpeen1817
nyaff1825
skin1825
weed1825
tiger1827
beggar1834
despicability1837
squirt1844
prawn1845
shake1846
white mouse1846
scurf1851
sweep1853
cockroach1856
bummer1857
medlar1859
cunt1860
shuck1862
missing link1863
schweinhund1871
creepa1876
bum1882
trashbag1886
tinhorn1887
snot-rag1888
rodent1889
whelpling1889
pie eatera1891
mess1891
schmuck1892
fucker1893
cheapskate1894
cocksucker1894
gutter-bird1896
perisher1896
skate1896
schmendrick1897
nyamps1900
ullage1901
fink1903
onion1904
punk1904
shitepoke1905
tinhorn sport1906
streeler1907
zob1911
stink1916
motherfucker1918
Oscar1918
shitass1918
shit-face1923
tripe-hound1923
gimp1924
garbage can1925
twerp1925
jughead1926
mong1926
fuck?1927
arsehole1928
dirty dog1928
gazook1928
muzzler1928
roach1929
shite1929
mook1930
lug1931
slug1931
woodchuck1931
crud1932
dip1932
bohunkus1933
lint-head1933
Nimrod1933
warb1933
fuck-piga1935
owl-hoot1934
pissant1935
poot1935
shmegegge1937
motheree1938
motorcycle1938
squiff1939
pendejo1940
snotnose1941
jerkface1942
slag1943
yuck1943
fuckface?1945
fuckhead?1945
shit-head1945
shite-hawk1948
schlub1950
asswipe1953
mother1955
weenie1956
hard-on1958
rass hole1959
schmucko1959
bitch ass1961
effer1961
lamer1961
arsewipe1962
asshole1962
butthole1962
cock1962
dipshit1963
motherfuck1964
dork1965
bumhole1967
mofo1967
tosspot1967
crudball1968
dipstick1968
douche1968
frickface1968
schlong1968
fuckwit1969
rassclaat1969
ass1970
wank1970
fecker1971
wanker1971
butt-fucker1972
slimeball1972
bloodclaat1973
fuckwad1974
mutha1974
suck1974
cocksuck1977
tosser1977
plank1981
sleazebag1981
spastic1981
dweeb1982
bumboclaat1983
dickwad1983
scuzzbag1983
sleazeball1983
butt-face1984
dickweed1984
saddie1985
butt plug1986
jerkweed1988
dick-sucker1989
microcephalic1989
wankstain1990
sadster1992
buttmunch1993
fanny1995
jackhole1996
fassyhole1997
fannybaws2000
fassy2002
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > baseness or moral vileness > person
wretchOE
filthOE
birdc1300
villain1303
caitiffc1330
crachouna1400
crathona1400
custronc1400
sloven?a1475
smaik?1507
rook?a1513
scavenger1563
scald1575
peasant1581
scaba1592
bezonian1592
slave1592
patchcock1596
muckworm1649
blackguard1732
ramscallion1734
nasty1825
cad1838
boundera1889
three-letter man1929
society > society and the community > social attitudes > philanthropy > [noun] > improving the lot of man > one who strives to
scavenger1771
1563 Burnynge Paules Church sig. Avii In like maner where this scauenger sweping the stretes with his bookes..hais spoken the truth, not trulye..I shal passe ouer it with silence.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis Ded. sig. Aiv Are there not diuerse skauingers of draftye poëtrye in this oure age, that bast theyre papers wyth smearie larde [etc.].
1601 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor i. iv. sig. D2 This gentleman hath satisfied me, Ile talke to no Scauenger . View more context for this quotation
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 12 That Suburbe sinke, as this rude Scavinger calls it,..shall be in my account a more honourable place then his University.
1767 A. Campbell Lexiphanes Pref. xxx I am no other than a literary scavenger.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. lxvii. 305 In the senate, their abilities have confined them to those humble, sordid services, in which the scavengers of the ministry are usually employed.
3. A child employed in a spinning-mill to collect loose cotton lying about the floor or machinery. Also, a roller used to collect the loose fibres or fluff; also called scavenger-roll.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > other processes > one who
lockster1590
gasser1829
scavenger1833
1833 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eng. & English (ed. 2) I. 201 My children shall never go into a factory, more especially as scavengers and piecers.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 289 The masters paid the spinners the full allowance of wages for these piecers and scavengers, as they are called.
1853 A. Ure Dict. Arts (ed. 4) II. 831 In the mules we notice a peculiar arrangement of ‘scavenger’ is applied. The object of this apparatus is to clear particles of waste from the top of the carriage, and the operation is effected by means of a roller.
4. Chemistry. A substance or species which scavenges (sense 4b) free radicals or other species.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical properties > [noun] > combining with or removing free radicals, etc. > that which
scavenger1955
1955 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 77 3244 The demonstration that various radical scavengers such as butyl mercaptan, α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl.., iodine and oxygen do not capture the decomposition products quantitatively.
1961 G. R. Choppin Exper. Nucl. Chem. xii. 196 The presence of even small amounts of impurity, especially if it has a high affinity for radicals (a scavenger), causes decomposition.
1970 Financial Times 13 Apr. 20/4 Manganese is probably the most important ‘minor’ metal used in the steel industry, being used as a de-oxidiser and scavenger to combine with sulphur.
1974 C. C. Patton in P. L. Moore et al. Drilling Practices Manual xv. 397 Scavengers can also be added to a drilling fluid to remove small amounts of hydrogen sulfide.
1978 Nature 23 Nov. 347/2 Hydroxyl is the most reactive trace species in the troposphere and is therefore the dominant scavenger of many anthropogenic substances.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
scavenger duck n.
ΚΠ
1884 Good Words Nov. 746/2 A band of scavenger ducks picking up the garbage.
scavenger-like adj.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Voyer, a Surueyer..of highwayes..who..Scauinger-like, giues order that they be made cleane.
1890 Spectator 28 June When such scavenger-like work is thus forced upon a man of letters, it is [etc.].
scavenger shovel n.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Paelle à bourbe, a Scauingers shouell;..such a one as durt is vsually remoued, or taken vp, with.
scavenger work n.
ΚΠ
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 312 There is so little scavenger work required in fine spinning, on account of the small quantity of waste from the long-stapled cotton.
C2. † scavenger-stuff n. Obsolete (see quot. 1787).
scavenger-cell n. = phagocyte n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > substance > cell > types of cells > [noun] > phagocytic cells
phagocyte1884
scavenger-cell1899
histiocyte1915
clasmatocyte1919
plasmatocyte1941
the world > life > the body > vascular system > blood > components of blood > blood corpuscle or plate > [noun] > white cells or corpuscles
white corpuscle1823
white cell1852
leucocyte1870
phagocyte1884
macrophage1887
microphage1887
lymphocyte1890
megakaryocyte1890
hyaline cell1894
macrophagocyte1896
microphagocyte1896
scavenger-cell1899
splenocyte1900
polymorph1902
granulocyte1906
lymphoblast1909
agranulocyte1913
monocyte1913
stab1929
hyaline leucocyte1931
smudge cell1937
heterophile1938
siderophage1941
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 324 In the lowest layer ‘scavenger’ cells and nuclei cover the spindle cells.
scavenger charge n. (see quot. and cf. preceding).
ΚΠ
1894 B. Donkin Gas, Oil, & Air Engines i. ii. 16 A third complete stroke is added, in order to cleanse the cylinder thoroughly of the products of previous combustion by what is called a ‘scavenger’ charge of pure air.
scavenger hunt n. originally U.S. a game in which people try to collect certain miscellaneous objects from the neighbourhood.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > other specific games > [noun] > others
sitisota1400
papsea1450
half-bowl1477
pluck at the crow1523
white and black1555
running game1581
blow-pointa1586
hot cocklesa1586
one penny1585
cockelty bread1595
pouch1600
venter-point1600
hinch-pinch1603
hardhead1606
poor and rich1621
rowland-hoe1622
hubbub1634
handicap?a1653
owl1653
ostomachy1656
prelledsa1660
quarter-spellsa1660
yert-point1659
bob-her1702
score1710
parson has lost his cloak1712
drop (also throw) (the) handkerchief1754
French Fox1759
goal1765
warpling o' the green1768
start1788
kiss-in-the-ring1801
steal-clothes1809
steal-coat1816
petits paquets1821
bocce1828
graces1831
Jack-in-the-box1836
hot hand1849
sparrow-mumbling1852
Aunt Sally1858
gossip1880
Tambaroora1882
spoof1884
fishpond1892
nim1901
diabolo1906
Kim's game1908
beaver1910
treasure-hunt1913
roll-down1915
rock scissors paper1927
scissors cut paper1927
scissors game1927
the dozens1928
toad in the hole1930
game1932
scissors paper stone1932
Roshambo1936
Marco Polo1938
scavenger hunt1940
skish1940
rock paper scissors1947
to play chicken1949
sounding1962
joning1970
arcade game1978
1940 Sun (Baltimore) 1 Nov. 7/3 Eight young persons on a scavenger hunt sponsored by a Westport High School sorority went to the Sixty-third street police station willingly to obtain signatures of policemen.
1963 ‘E. McBain’ Ten Plus One xi. 136 We're two college kids on a scavenger hunt... We're supposed to bring back a hibernating bear.
1977 Times 24 Dec. 10/2 The outdoors scavenger hunt is a good exercise after overeating.
1980 Jewish Chron. 18 July 25/5 Sunday, July 27. Car Rally/Scavenger Hunt.
scavenger-roll n. (see sense 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > dirt removed in cleaning > from streets
fulyie1538
scavage1706
scavenger-stuff1787
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 332 Scavenger stuff, is a mixture of coal ashes and street dirt.
C3. In designations of certain animals (see 2b):
scavenger-beetle n. a necrophagous beetle, especially one of the family Scaphidiidæ.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Staphylinoidea > family Silphidae > member of (burying beetle)
burying-beetle1803
carrion-beetle1815
necrophagan1842
scavenger-beetle1854
'burying-sylph-
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 182 Scavenger-Beetles (Scaphidiidæ).
scavenger-crab n. any crab which feeds on dead animal matter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > subclass Malacostraca > division Thoracostraca > order Decapoda > suborder Brachyura (crab) > scavenger-crab
scavenger-crab1857
1857 A. White Pop. Hist. Brit. Crustacea Index Scavenger-crab.
1894 19th Cent. Sept. 436 Scavenger crabs which line this coast in myriads.
scavenger-vulture n. (see quot. 1885).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > vultures or a vulture > genus Neophron > species percnopterus (Egyptian vulture)
ossifrage1572
geir-eagle1611
Pharaoh's hen1757
Maltese vulture1781
Pharaoh's chicken1799
neophron1833
scavenger-vulture1885
1885 W. T. Hornaday Two Years in Jungle vi. 61 No wonder the builder of such a nest is called the scavenger vulture [Neophron percnopterus].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
scavengerv.
rare.
1. transitive. To remove dirt from, chiefly figurative; also, to make dirty with scavenging.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > clean [verb (transitive)]
yclense971
cleansea1000
farmOE
fayc1220
fowc1350
absterse?a1425
mundify?a1425
muck1429
to cast clean1522
absterge1526
sprinkle1526
reconcile1535
net1536
clengec1540
neat?1575
snuff?1575
rinse1595
deterge1623
scavengea1644
scavenger1645
decrott1653
reform1675
clean1681
deterse1684
fluxa1763
to clean away, offa1839
to clean down1839
scavage1851
untaint1855
to sand and canvas1912
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirty [verb (transitive)]
uncleanseOE
horyc1200
befoulc1320
behorewe1340
file1340
flobber1377
smatterc1386
foulc1400
slurryc1440
filtha1450
sowla1450
sollc1480
bawdy1495
squagea1500
arrayc1525
ray1526
bawdc1529
beray1530
filthify1545
belime1555
soss1557
embroyn1566
dirt1570
filthy1581
turpifya1586
dirty1591
muck1618
bedirt1622
bedirty1623
smooch1631
dight1632
fewma1637
snuddle1661
bepaw1684
puddle1698
nasty1707
muddify1739
scavenger1806
mucky1828
squalidize1837
mullock1861
muddy1893
1645 F. Quarles New Distemper 3 All the Romish Rubbish and Trumpery was scavengerd out of this [the new Reformed] Church.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. ii. 28 After having scavengered your hands and gloves in slaving to drag up each [shoe out of the quagmire].
2. intransitive. To work at scavenging.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning streets > clean streets [verb (intransitive)]
scavenger1843
scavenge1883
1843 [implied in: Penny Cycl. XXVI. 472/2 In Cairo these vultures are..prized for their scavengering services. (at scavengering n.)].
1894 Season 10 71/3 Scavengering with bent spine in the gutter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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