1. Clean refuse from
   "Scavenge a street"
    
2. Collect discarded material
   "She scavenged the garbage cans for food";
   - salvage
    
3. Feed on carrion or refuse
   "hyenas scavenge"
    
4. Remove impurities from, esp. by a chemical reaction
   "The engineers used activated carbon to scavenge impurities from the water";
   - clean
    
5. Expel the exhaust gases from the cylinder of an internal combustion engine on the return stroke
   "The engine's scavenging process helps improve efficiency"

Derived forms: scavenging, scavenges, scavenged

Type of: clean, collect, feed, garner, gather, give, pull together, remove, take, take away, withdraw

Encyclopedia: Scavenge