scams

n. [ LL. escambium, excambium. See Excamb. ] (Eng. Law) A license formerly required for the making over a bill of exchange to another over sea. Cowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Scambled p. pr. & vb. n. Scambling. ] [ Cf. OD. schampelen to deviate, to slip, schampen to go away, escape, slip, and E. scamper, shamble. ] 1. To move awkwardly; to be shuffling, irregular, or unsteady; to sprawl; to shamble. “Some scambling shifts.” Dr. H. More. “A fine old hall, but a scambling house.” Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To move about pushing and jostling; to be rude and turbulent; to scramble. “The scambling and unquiet time did push it out of . . . question.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To mangle. [ Obs. ] Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who scambles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A bold intruder upon the hospitality of others; a mealtime visitor. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a scambling manner; with turbulence and noise; with bold intrusiveness. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Scamilli [ L., originally, a little bench, dim. of scamnum bench, stool. ] (Arch.) A sort of second plinth or block, below the bases of Ionic and Corinthian columns, generally without moldings, and of smaller size horizontally than the pedestal. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or } n. (Zool.) The female bar-tailed godwit. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Whether this is the scamel mentioned by Shakespeare [ “Tempest, ” ii. 2 ] is not known. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Made from scammony; as, a scammoniate aperient. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. scammonée, L. scammonia, scammonea, Gr. skammwni`a. ] 1. (Bot.) A species of bindweed or Convolvulus (Convolvulus Scammonia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An inspissated sap obtained from the root of the Convolvulus Scammonia, of a blackish gray color, a nauseous smell like that of old cheese, and a somewhat acrid taste. It is used in medicine as a cathartic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. escamper to run away, to make one's escape. Originally, one who runs away, a fugitive, a vagabond. See Scamper. ] A rascal; a swindler; a rogue. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Scamp, n., or Scant, a., and Skimp. ] To perform in a hasty, neglectful, or imperfect manner; to do superficially. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A workman is said to scamp his work when he does it in a superficial, dishonest manner. Wedgwood. [ 1913 Webster ]

Much of the scamping and dawdling complained of is that of men in establishments of good repute. T. Hughes. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ It. ] A long, low war galley used by the Neapolitans and Sicilians in the early part of the nineteenth century. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Scampered p. pr. & vb. n. Scampering. ] [ OF. escamper to escape, to save one's self; L. ex from + campus the field (sc. of battle). See Camp, and cf. Decamp, Scamp, n., Shamble, v. t. ] To run with speed; to run or move in a quick, hurried manner; to hasten away. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lady, however, . . . could not help scampering about the room after a mouse. S. Sharpe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A scampering; a hasty flight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who scampers. Tyndell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or like a scamp; knavish; as, scampish conduct. [ 1913 Webster ]