'Scavenger' definitions:
Definition of 'scavenger'
(from WordNet)
Definition of 'Scavenger'
From: GCIDE
- Scavenger \Scav"en*ger\, n. [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. [1913 Webster]
- Scavenger beetle (Zool.), any beetle which feeds on decaying substances, as the carrion beetle.
- Scavenger crab (Zool.), 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. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'scavenger'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- 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