Scamper

//ˈskæmpə// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A quick, light run.
  2. 2
    One who skimps or does slipshod work.
  3. 3
    rushing about hastily in an undignified way wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To run lightly and quickly, especially in a playful or undignified manner. intransitive

    "The dog scampered after the squirrel."

  2. 2
    to move about or proceed hurriedly wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
scurryscurryambulateboltbundleburst

Example

More examples

"I saw a mouse scamper across the floor."

Etymology

Etymology 1

First attested in 1687. Origin uncertain, but possibly from Dutch schamperen, from Old French escamper, from Vulgar Latin *excampāre.

Etymology 2

From scamp + -er.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.