scamp

1 of 2

noun

1
2
: an impish or playful young person
scampish adjective

scamp

2 of 2

verb

scamped; scamping; scamps

transitive verb

: to perform or deal with in a hasty, neglectful, or imperfect manner

Examples of scamp in a Sentence

Noun those little scamps are always getting into trouble, but no one has the heart to punish them an insincere and ruthlessly ambitious scamp who was willing to do anything to win the reality show's grand prize
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
Eventually, neighborhood scamps dropped down into the park's stone drainage channel, built in 1934 as a New Deal project and still the park's distinguishing feature, and followed it underground. Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman, 24 June 2024 Dogs were the reigning scamps in most households and were twice as likely as cats to cause damage. Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 9 July 2024
Verb
While its individual characters feel largely interchangeable, the movie hums with life and pleasure when Borowczyk lets his nuns twirl around the chapel in a painterly tableau and scamp through the convent. Elle Carroll, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2021 Sunshine scamps: The Florida Project is a delighful, poignant, dark-and-light movie about kids living on the seedy side of Disney. Rebecca Onion, Slate Magazine, 6 Oct. 2017 See all Example Sentences for scamp 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

obsolete scamp to roam about idly

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1808, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1837, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of scamp was in 1808

Dictionary Entries Near scamp

Cite this Entry

“Scamp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scamp. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

scamp

noun
ˈskamp

More from Merriam-Webster on scamp

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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