scavenge
scavenge — verb
- scavengepresent simple I / you / we / they
- scavengeshe / she / it
- scavengedpast simple
- scavenging-ing form
1. To look through rubbish, waste, or unwanted items to find something that can sti
To look through rubbish, waste, or unwanted items to find something that can still be used, eaten, or sold.
Yumi scavenged through the old furniture shop for spare parts to fix her bicycle.
scavenge + through + place + for + thing
During the war, families often scavenged the streets for anything they could burn as fuel.
scavenge + place + for + thing — transitive use
Christopher scavenged in the recycling bins for cardboard boxes for his school project.
After the festival, volunteers scavenged the field for reusable materials and recyclable bottles.
Jessica scavenged for discarded cardboard boxes behind the supermarket to use for her art project.
文法句型
scavenge + through + place + for + thing
scavenge + place + for + thing
scavenge + for + thing
用法筆記
Subject is usually a person or group in need or looking to save resources. Object can be a place (the bins, the streets) or the thing being searched for (food, parts). Frequently used figuratively in computing contexts ('scavenge memory').
常見錯誤
2. (Of a wild animal) To regularly feed on dead creatures or human rubbish as a nat
(Of a wild animal) To regularly feed on dead creatures or human rubbish as a natural source of nutrition.
Vultures scavenge the remains of animals that have been killed by larger predators.
scavenge + object — transitive with wild animals
Stray dogs often scavenge at night around the market for leftover food.
scavenge + for — intransitive pattern with location
A female bear was seen scavenging through the campsite's rubbish bins early in the morning.
Hyenas scavenged the carcass that the lion pride had abandoned on the open plain.
Raccoons regularly scavenge for scraps in suburban gardens near Taipei.
- forage
broader term for searching for food; 'forage' does not carry the same sense of eating dead matter
- feed on carrion
more precise technical term for eating dead flesh, but less common than 'scavenge'
文法句型
scavenge + food (transitive)
scavenge + on/off + food
scavenge + for + food
用法筆記
Subject is always an animal (or a person described as acting like an animal). The object can be the dead animal (carcass, remains) or the food source. Distinguish from Sense 1: Sense 1 describes a deliberate human search; Sense 2 describes instinctive feeding behaviour.