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scavenger |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. {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 WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: scavenger n 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
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