From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishscavengescav‧enge /ˈskævəndʒ/ verb [intransitive, transitive] 1 HBAif an animal scavenges, it eats anything that it can find Pigs scavenged among the rubbish.scavenge for rats scavenging for food2 LOOK FORif someone scavenges, they search through things that other people do not want, for food or useful objects There are people who live in the dump and scavenge garbage for a living.scavenge for Women were scavenging for old furniture. —scavenger noun [countable] Foxes and other scavengers go through the dustbins.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
scavenge• That's far below our eyrie - I go down there to scavenge.• Occasionally, the clouds, cleared and I was able to film mink scavenging along the rocky shoreline at low tide.• With only the single, terrible fact of 21 December known for certain, journalists have scavenged and speculated.• He was looking for his two sons, who had been out scavenging bones when the storm struck.• Unlike most other fabled beasts it preferred to scavenge carrion from the forest floor rather than kill for fresh meat.• Not even squatters camped in this place, so more likely they'd been broken by locals scavenging for carpets or pipes.• He made his way through a ragpickers' village built with material scavenged from other parts of the city.• For parts, he scrounged around various offices and supply rooms, scavenging what seemed useful.scavenge for• In the garbage dumps, women and children scavenge for glass and plastic bottles.Origin scavenge (1600-1700) scavenger ((16-21 centuries)), from scavager “tax collector, someone who cleans streets” ((15-19 centuries)), from scavage “tax on goods sold” ((15-19 centuries)), from Old North French escauwage “examination” 