scamp
/ˈskæmp/
scamp noun: a rascal, swindler, or rogue; a ne'er-do-well.
Noun (1)
scamp (plural scamps)
- A rascal, swindler, or rogue; a ne'er-do-well.
- "He is a scamp, he is and it isn't difficult to find his tracks and signs of his reckless shooting, for he can never wait, like other folks, till the birds have had a good start at their play."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 77
- A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster.
- My nephew is a little scamp who likes to leave lighted firecrackers under the lawnchairs of his dozing elders.
- While walking home from the bar, he was set upon by a bunch of scamps who stole his hat.
Verb
scamp (third-person singular simple present scamps, present participle scamping, simple past and past participle scamped)
- To skimp; to do something in a skimpy or slipshod fashion.
- His work was always first-rate. There was no scamping about it. Everything that he did was thoroughly good and honest.1884, Samuel Smiles, Men of Invention and Industry
- “They know our boats will stand up to their work,” said Willison, “and that counts for a good deal. A low estimate from us doesn't mean scamped work, but just for that we want to keep the yard busy over a slack time.”1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 3, in Well Tackled!
Noun (2)
scamp (plural scamps)
- A preliminary design sketch.
- It did not matter that the scamp (simple illustrative line-drawing) it contained could have been done in the pub the night before.2007, Adrian Mackay, Practice of Advertising, page 124
- From the scamps, the creative idea can be developed more fully into a proposal for an actual ad. This needs to be clear enough to present to the client.2009, FCS: Advertising & Promotions L4, page 25
scamp meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
scamp in Urdu
- پاجی, شریر, چالو کام کرنا
scamp in Malayalam
- കുഴിമടിയൻ, ചതിയൻ, അലസൻ, തെമ്മാടി, കുസൃതിക്കുരുന്ന്
scamp in Kannada
- ಅಯೋಗ್ಯ, ಪೋಕರಿ, ತುಂಟ, ಪುಂಡ, ತರಲೆ, ಅರೆಕೊರೆಯಾಗಿ ಕಾಟಾಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡು
Synonyms of scamp
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of scamp
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | scamps |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | scamps |
| present participle | scamping |
| past participle | scamped |
| past | scamped |
Origin of scamp
From Middle Dutch schampen (“slip away”), from Old French escamper (“to run away, to make one's escape”), from Vulgar Latin *excampāre. Compare escape.
Perhaps related to sense 1, but influenced by the later attested skimp; however, compare Icelandic skamta (“to dole out, to stint”), which is related to skammur (“short”).
Words formed from scamp
Words that rhyme with scamp
Questions about scamp
- What does scamp mean?
- Scamp means a rascal, swindler, or rogue; a ne'er-do-well.
- What is scamp in Urdu?
- Scamp in Urdu is پاجی, شریر, چالو کام کرنا. See Scamp meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is scamp?
- Scamp can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce scamp?
- Scamp is pronounced /ˈskæmp/.
- What is the plural of scamp?
- The plural of scamp is scamps.
Words near scamp in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: scamp (page history and authors); scamp (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scamp (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scamp (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-scamp.wav.
Cite this entry: “scamp.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scamp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.