mooching

Verb

mooch (third-person singular simple present mooches, present participle mooching, simple past and past participle mooched)

1. (UK, colloquial) To wander around aimlessly, often causing irritation to others.
   • Near-synonyms: loiter, roam
2. (colloquial) To beg, cadge, or sponge; to exploit or take advantage of others for personal gain.
   • I managed to mooch my way up the journalistic ladder to the next, more impressive level of “Interviewer”.1990, Michael L. Frankel & friends, Gently with the Tides, Washington (DC): Center for Marine Conservation, →ISBN, page 26

   Synonyms:

   leech, beg, blag, bum, cadge, mump, scrounge, scunge, sponge, tap

3. (UK, colloquial, transitive) To steal or filch.
   • I'm tired of driving you all over and sick of you living in my house, mooching my food.2019, Susan Alice Bickford, Dread of Winter

   Synonyms:

   steal, abduct, abstract, appropriate, bag, bandit, bash and grab, bone, boost, burgle

See all 6 meanings of mooch