Definition of "scunge" in English

noun

1. (uncountable, slang) Muck, scum, dirt, dirtiness; also used attributively.

   • In two mad days Scully painted out the whole interior in lime wash, and the place suddenly seemed brighter, bigger, cleaner, and so strangely wholesome that it made him realize how foul it had been before, what scunge he'd really been dealing with day and night.

2. (countable, slang) A scrounger; one who habitually borrows.

3. (countable, slang) A dirty or untidy person; one who takes no pride in their appearance.

4. (countable, slang, derogatory) A scoundrel; a worthless or despicable person.

verb

1. To mark with scunge; to begrime or besmirch.

2. To slink about; to sneak, to insinuate.

   • 1846, author not visible, The Disruption: A Scottish Tale of Recent Times, R. M. Walker (printer), Edinburgh, page 341, Neither will ye scunge after the gentry like M′Quirkie, and keep your creed in your hand ready to swap it for ony ither that may happen to be mair profitable.

3. To scrounge; to borrow.

   • 2011, Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds, HarperCollins Australia, unnumbered page, ‘ […] My business does all the work, and you want to come and scunge a market off me and don′t even have a bet? […] ’