To scavenge means to search through discarded materials or leftovers to find something useful or valuable. When a raccoon scavenges through garbage cans at night, it's hunting for food scraps. When you scavenge through your closet looking for old toys to donate, you're sorting through items to find what you need.

The word often describes animals that eat dead animals they didn't kill themselves. Vultures are famous scavengers, circling overhead to spot carcasses. Hyenas scavenge the remains of prey that lions have finished with. These animals play an important role in nature by cleaning up and recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

People scavenge too, though usually in less dramatic ways. After a garage sale ends, neighbors might scavenge the free pile for useful items. Inventors and artists often scavenge junkyards and thrift stores for interesting parts and materials.

A scavenger hunt flips the concept into a game where players race to find a list of specific items, searching high and low until they've collected everything. Instead of looking through trash, players scavenge their houses, yards, or neighborhoods for things like “something purple” or “a button with four holes.”