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# scrounger

«scrounger» in Mova's school dictionary: **A person who often gets things from others without paying…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a scrounger, scroungers)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, UK) A person who often gets things from others without paying or working for them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#m1)

2) (insulting) A person who is said to live off other people or the government instead of working — this is often an unfair, hurtful label. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life, a scrounger asks for your sweets, pens or money all the time. In the news, "benefit scroungers" is a harsh phrase some newspapers use; many people say it unfairly blames poor or sick people. In stories, a scrounger can be a funny, cheeky character. Phrases: a bit of a scrounger, benefit scrounger.

### examples

- My brother is a scrounger — he always eats my crisps. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x1)
- The seagull is a scrounger, waiting for chips. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x2)
- "Stop being a scrounger and buy your own!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x3)
- Some newspapers call poor people scroungers, which is unkind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x4)
- The cat is a real scrounger at dinnertime. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x5)
- He's a scrounger; he never brings his own pencil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/#x6)

### note

Informal, often insulting. Verb: scrounge (scrounge, scrounged). Be careful: calling people "scroungers" can be cruel; many who get help cannot work.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «scrounger» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/scrounger/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.