1search for and collect (anything usable) from discarded waste:people sell junk scavenged from the garbagethe city dump where the squatters scavenge to survive
(of an animal) search for (carrion) as food:the feral cat preferred to scavenge carrion from the forest floor [no object]:bears and wolves scavenged for carcasses
search for discarded items or food in (a place):the mink is still commonly seen scavenging the beaches of California
2remove (combustion products) from an internal-combustion engine cylinder on the return stroke of the piston:solid lead deposits of combustion would be scavenged from the engine
3 Chemistry combine with and remove (molecules, radicals, etc.) from a particular medium:chlorine molecules can scavenge ozone at a very fast rate
