scavenger

scavenger
/skav"in jeuhr/, n.
1. an animal or other organism that feeds on dead organic matter.
2. a person who searches through and collects items from discarded material.
3. a street cleaner.
4. Chem. a chemical that consumes or renders inactive the impurities in a mixture.
[1520-30; earlier scavager < AF scawageour, equiv. to (e)scawage inspection (escaw(er) to inspect < MD schauwen to look at (c. SHOW) + -age -AGE) + -eour -OR2]

* * *

also called  Carrion-feeder,  

      animal that feeds partly or wholly on the bodies of dead animals. Many invertebrates, such as carrion beetles, live almost entirely on decomposing animal matter. The burying beetles actually enter the dead bodies of small animals before feeding on them underground.

      Among vertebrates there are species such as the vultures that exist solely on carrion. Most vertebrates show more flexibility. The bald eagle will scavenge dead fish whenever possible, but it hunts when necessary and will rob the kill of an osprey. Most large mammalian predators, e.g., the lion and the wolf, will opportunistically eat of a carcass killed by another animal. The spotted hyena (laughing hyena), widely known as a scavenger, has heavy jaws equipped for crushing bones. Lone hyenas live mostly on carrion, but where large populations exist they form packs and hunt by night. A clan of 30 hyenas may drive off a small group of lions and steal their kill.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Scavenger — (engl. Aasfresser) ist: Eine ehemalige schwedische Metalband, siehe The Arcane Order Alkylhalogenide wie 1,2 Dibromethan oder 1,2 Dichlorethan, die Bleiablagerungen im Motor (bei Verwendung verbleiten Benzins) verhindern Triazine zum Entfernen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 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 Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • scavenger — (n.) originally person hired to remove refuse from streets, from M.E. scawageour (late 14c.), London official in charge of collecting tax on goods sold by foreign merchants, from Anglo Fr. scawager, from scawage toll or duty on goods offered for… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Scavenger —   [ skævɪndʒə; englisch, eigentlich »Aasfresser«] der, (s)/ , Antiklopfmittel …   Universal-Lexikon

  • scavenger — ► NOUN 1) a person or animal that scavenges. 2) Chemistry a substance that combines with and removes particular molecules, radicals, etc. ORIGIN originally denoting an official who collected scavage, a toll on foreign merchants goods, later a… …   English terms dictionary

  • scavenger — [skav′in jər] n. [ME scavager < Anglo Fr scawage, inspection < NormFr escauwer, to inspect < Fl scawen or Frank scouwon, to peer at, observe, akin to OE sceawian, SHOW] 1. a person who gathers things that have been discarded by others,… …   English World dictionary

  • Scavenger — For a person who scavenges, see Waste picker. For other uses, see Scavenger (disambiguation). Sarcophaga nodosa, a species of flesh fly feeding on decaying meat Scavenging is both a carnivorous and herbivorous feeding behavior in which individual …   Wikipedia

  • scavenger — [15] A scavenger was originally a scavager – the extra n is the same as that intruded into messenger, passenger, etc. This was acquired from Anglo Norman scawager, and it started life as a term for an official whose job was to collect taxes… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • scavenger — [15] A scavenger was originally a scavager – the extra n is the same as that intruded into messenger, passenger, etc. This was acquired from Anglo Norman scawager, and it started life as a term for an official whose job was to collect taxes… …   Word origins

  • Scavenger — Récupération informelle des déchets Pour les articles homonymes, voir Récupération des déchets et Chiffonnier. Ramasseurs de déchets dans un bidonvill …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Scavenger 4 — Novastorm Novastorm Éditeur Psygnosis Développeur Psygnosis Date de sortie 1994 PlayStation 13 octobre 1995 (Europe)[1] …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”