scav‧enge /ˈskævəndʒ, ˈskævɪndʒ/ verb [intransitive and transitive]
[Date: 1600-1700; Origin: 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']

1. if an animal scavenges, it eats anything that it can find:
Pigs scavenged among the rubbish.
scavenge for
rats scavenging for food

2. if 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.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲