Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To economize severely.
- v. To be excessively sparing with or of.
- v. To cut or make too small or scanty.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To pinch or scant; limit closely; be sparing in the food, clothes, money, etc., of; deal sparingly with; straiten.
- To be sparing in; narrow, straiten, stint, or contract, especially through a niggard or sparing use or allowance of something; make too small, short, or scanty; limit: as, to scrimp a coat, or the cloth for making it.
- To be parsimonious or miserly: as, to save and scrimp.
- Scanty; narrow; deficient; contracted.
- n. A niggard; a pinching miser.
Wiktionary
- n. A pinching miser; a niggard.
- v. transitive To make too small or short; to scant; to contract; to shorten.
- v. transitive To limit or straiten; to put on short allowance.
- v. intransitive To be frugal.
- adj. Short; scanty; curtailed.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To make too small or short; to limit or straiten; to put on short allowance; to scant; to contract; to shorten.
- adj. Short; scanty; curtailed.
- n. U.S. A pinching miser; a niggard.
WordNet 3.0
- v. subsist on a meager allowance
Etymologies
- This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology. (Wiktionary)
- Perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Swedish skrympa, to shrink. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Another are where they scrimp is on the safety and training of their own personnel.”
Boing Boing: September 24, 2006 - September 30, 2006 Archives
“The one place we will never scrimp is life and death areas like the State Police," Daniels said. ”
“Theresa May today pledged not to "scrimp" on Olympic security, insisting every precaution necessary will be taken to protect the public during the”
“Many would argue that if medical insurance doesn't cover primary and preventive care, then people will "scrimp" on these and just not partake.”
“scrimp" on anything, they'll have tens of thousands of fans to answer to.”
“Others raised concerns that an investor-rental strategy would leave neighborhoods worse off if investors scrimp on property maintenance.”
“I say "largely" because campaigns found ways to scrimp and save by renting cars across the state line, a minor dodge which seems quite quaint in today's post-Citizens United decision milieu of anything goes spending.”
““You know maybe—just maybe—if we scrimp and save all those taxes we've been paying, we'll be able to afford a vacation home some day.””
Fictionaut: Tax Tips From Tila Tequila, Professional Bisexual
“A weak economic environment could see mobile operators in developed markets continue to scrimp on spending.”
“Jesus was a self-emptier, a kenotic, one whose way was to spill and spend not hoard and scrimp.”
The Huffington Post: Donna Schaper: A Jesus Look At The Issues Du Jour
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scrimp’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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The weird, the wonderful and the plai...
Loved for their ingenuity, an exact description, or simply for the pure joy of it.
acidulous, aprosdoketon, higgledy-piggledy, lexicographical, ninja, audacious, somnabulist, shivaree, amorphous, quidnunc, glib, melancholy and 353 more...
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scraps
scray, scramble, scraggly, scrape, scree, scrap, scrape by, scratch, scratch out, scratch race, scratch up, scranny and 61 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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Words I'd Like to Use Someday
thundersnow, phantasmagoria, mercurial, chimerical, taciturn, paraclete, lapis lazuli, flay, guttersnipe, wonky, misanthrope, kestrel and 583 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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kevincooper's Words
prosopopeia, lisle, magisterial, zeitgeist, zeugma, bloviate, apocryphal, bon mot, cacophony, euphony, brigandier, micturition and 313 more...
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GRE Words
deftness, insular, patent, normative, abrasive, immutable, inscrutable, invulnerable, imperturbable, irresolute, injudicious, deft and 106 more...
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obscure words
Words which I have some trouble comprehending or finding a synonym.
truculent, wheedle, iniquitous, brusque, pellucid, demur, peremptory, spiel, bathos, rigmarole, glower, scabrous and 107 more...
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Russo Vocab Test
ostracize, innumerable, chiffonier, qualm, compulsory, sadism, masochism, falsetto, liberate, rile, pacifist, unscrupulous and 56 more...
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gre word list
contains d gre words
abate, ascetic, spartan, aristocrat, loathe, detest, odious, abrade, scrimp, scrunch, abridge, concise and 66 more...
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Esoteric BS
Words that I find to be highly unlikely of finding their way into my daily conversations.
descry, dionysian, abstruse, anoteric, abrogate, plutonomy, abstruse, inveigle, dystopia, ablation, coruscate, baccalaureate and 80 more...
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Fox, Jeffrey. How To Make Big Money I...
Interesting words from this book.
hardscrabble, staph, glancing, bellowed, chock-full, gird, unsheathe, sally, snub, flophouses, vagrants, demerits and 63 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for scrimp.
missanthropist Southern/urban devolution of 'shrimp'. Apr 19, 2009