Library / English Dictionary

SCAMPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rushing about hastily in an undignified way

Synonyms:

scamper; scramble; scurry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("scamper" is a kind of...):

haste; hurry; rush; rushing (the act of moving hurriedly and in a careless manner)

Derivation:

scamper (to move about or proceed hurriedly)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

To move about or proceed hurriedly

Example:

so terrified by the extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to higher ground

Synonyms:

scamper; scurry; scuttle; skitter

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "scamper" is one way to...):

run (move fast by using one's feet, with one foot off the ground at any given time)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scamper"):

crab (scurry sideways like a crab)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

scamper (rushing about hastily in an undignified way)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But there was that in him deeper than all the law he had learned, than the customs that had moulded him, than his love for the master, than the very will to live of himself; and when, in the moment of his indecision, Collie nipped him and scampered off, he turned and followed after.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The little animals and all the people scampered out of their way, fearing the strangers would break them, and after an hour or so the travelers reached the other side of the country and came to another china wall.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

A scamper across the pasture, a jackrabbit rising suddenly under the horse's feet, a violent sheer, a stumble, a fall to earth, and a broken leg for the master, was the cause of it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

And then they scampered in all directions, for Toto had awakened from his sleep, and seeing all these mice around him he gave one bark of delight and jumped right into the middle of the group.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)