search for and collect (anything usable) from discarded waste 从废弃物中捡拾(有用的东西) people sell junk scavenged from the garbage. 人们出售从垃圾中捡来的废旧物。 the city dump where the squatters scavenge to survive. 许多人蹲在那里靠捡破烂为生的城市垃圾堆。 ■(of an animal) search for (carrion) as food (动物)觅食(腐肉) ■search for discarded items or food in (a place) 在…搜寻物品(或食物) the mink is still commonly seen scavenging the beaches of California. 还可经常看到貂在加利福尼亚海滩上觅食。 ■remove (combustion products) from an internal-combustion engine cylinder on the return stroke of the piston (从内燃机汽缸里)扫(气) ■(Chemistry)combine with and remove (molecules, radicals, etc.) from a particular medium (化)(通过化合作用从特定介质中)清除(分子、原子团等)
语源
mid 17th cent. (in the sense 'clean out (dirt'): back-formation from scavenger