释义 |
scav·eng·er I. \-jə(r)\ noun (-s) Etymology: alteration of scavager 1. : a former English official charged originally with the collection of scavage and later with various other duties including that of keeping the streets clean 2. chiefly Britain : a person employed to remove dirt and refuse from the streets of a municipality : street cleaner 3. : one that scavenges: as a. : a garbage collector b. : junkman c. : one that collects the refuse about a logging camp d. : a chemically active substance either present in or added to a mixture to make innocuous or to remove an undesirable substance < calcium … is already being used as a scavenger in melting steel, copper, nickel, lead — A.M.Bateman > < the tin compound acts also as a scavenger for hydrogen chloride — A.S.Kenyon > — compare getter 4. a. : an organism that devours refuse, carrion, or matter injurious to the general health b. : scavenger beetle c. : a small mottled green marine percoid food fish (Lethrinus nebulosus) of warm shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific area II. intransitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) : to clean up filth (as street refuse) |