scavenger
noun
Simple meaning
Any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skavuhnjerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskævəndʒɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter
An animal that feeds on decaying matter such as carrion.
Someone who scavenges, especially one who searches through rubbish for food or useful things.
Someone who collects things that have been discarded by others
chemistry
A substance used to remove impurities from the air or from a solution.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter
Used this way, scavenger is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Keep learning “scavenger” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.
- Practice sentence writingWrite sentences with vocabulary and get instant feedback.
- Practice in contextAnswer short vocabulary questions drawn from real situations.
- Review vocabularyTest your recall and strengthen words over time.
- Practice typingType vocabulary in short rounds that draw from words you've learned and saved.
Want to type words like this one without looking at the keyboard? Each typing round draws from words you've learned, saved or need to review. Follow the free Learn to Type lessons and type your own vocabulary with confidence.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.