scumber
scumber noun: dung; excrement.
Noun
scumber (countable and uncountable, plural scumbers)
- Dung; excrement.
- […]having no regard of me, and never looking upon me but as the scumber of the world.1848, Steinmetz, Andrew, 1816-1877, History of the Jesuits, →OCLC
- A human vulture, God sent thee The world's great scavenger to be. To cleanse it of its scumber;1900, Johnstone, Julian E, Songs of Sun and Shadow, →OCLC
Verb
scumber (third-person singular simple present scumbers, present participle scumbering, simple past and past participle scumbered)
- To defecate.
- But he that gaines the glory here Muſt ſcumber furtheſt, ſhite moſt clear.1655, Mennes, John, Sir, 1599-1671, Musarum Deliciae ; and, Wit Restor'd
- Beware of fire when you ſcumber, Though to ſh-- [shit] fire were a wonder,1656, Choyce Drollery
- of a dog or fox
- Some tyme pei han a siknesse bat pei mowe not pisse and byn ilost therbi, and also whan pei mowe not scombirec. 1410, The Master of Game
- a brace of gray-houndes When they are ledd out of their kennels to ſcumber1630, Massinger, Philip, The Picture a Tragae Comaedie […]
Examples of scumber in a sentence
- […] the Scumber of the Fox, the Spraints of the Otter[…]1660, Howell, James., Lexicon Tetraglotton […] :
- Let’s see, if by your scumber, you are fox!1958, Djuna Barnes, The Antiphon:
- Someone shouts something and he turns and shouts back, ‘Just going for a scumber, all right?2012, Collins, B. R, The Broken Road, →OCLC:
- Other than to scumber, I suppose. / What? / To disencumber.2009, Cooke, Sophie, Under the Mountain, →OCLC:
Forms of scumber
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | scumbers |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | scumbers |
| present participle | scumbering |
| past participle | scumbered |
| past | scumbered |
Origin of scumber
Perhaps Old French escumbrier (“to disencumber”).
Words that rhyme with scumber
Questions about scumber
- What does scumber mean?
- Scumber means dung; excrement.
- How do you use scumber in a sentence?
- […] the Scumber of the Fox, the Spraints of the Otter[…]
- What part of speech is scumber?
- Scumber can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of scumber?
- The plural of scumber is scumbers.
Words near scumber in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: scumber (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:
Cite this entry: “scumber.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scumber. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.