mooch

[mooch] /mutʃ/
verb (used with object)
1.
to borrow (a small item or amount) without intending to return or repay it.
2.
to get or take without paying or at another's expense; sponge:
He always mooches cigarettes.
3.
to beg.
4.
to steal.
verb (used without object)
5.
to skulk or sneak.
6.
to loiter or wander about.
noun
7.
Also, moocher. a person who mooches.
Also, mouch.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English, apparently variant of Middle English michen < Old French muchier to skulk, hide
Examples from the web for moocher
  • Lillian is a frigid moocher who seeks to destroy her husband.
British Dictionary definitions for moocher

mooch

/muːtʃ/
verb (slang)
1.
(intransitive) often foll by around. to loiter or walk aimlessly
2.
(intransitive) to behave in an apathetic way
3.
(intransitive) to sneak or lurk; skulk
4.
(transitive) to cadge
5.
(transitive) (mainly US & Canadian) to steal
Derived Forms
moocher, noun
Word Origin
C17: perhaps from Old French muchier to skulk
Word Origin and History for moocher
n.

"beggar, scrounger," 1857, agent noun from mooch (v.).

mooch

v.

mid-15c., "pretend poverty," probably from Old French muchier, mucier "to hide, sulk, conceal, hide away, keep out of sight," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Celtic or Germanic (Liberman prefers the latter, Klein the former). Or the word may be a variant of Middle English mucchen "to hoard, be stingy" (c.1300), probably originally "to keep coins in one's nightcap," from mucche "nightcap," from Middle Dutch muste "cap, nightcap," ultimately from Medieval Latin almucia, of unknown origin. Sense of "sponge off others" first recorded 1857.

Whatever the distant origin of mooch, the verb *mycan and its cognates have been part of European slang for at least two millennia. [Liberman]
Related: Mooched; mooching. As a noun meaning "a moocher," from 1914.

Slang definitions & phrases for moocher

moocher

noun

A beggar; borrower; deadbeat, sponge: He heard a moocher deliver the following spiel/ Minnie the moocher, she was a low-down hootchy-cootcher (1857+)


mooch

noun
  1. moocher (1914+)
  2. A gullible customer; dupe; mark (1929+ Carnival)
  3. A person who listens to the pitch, but does not buy (1940s+ Carnival)
  4. A customer who painstakingly examines the merchandise before buying (1940s+ Salespersons)
verb
  1. To beg; borrow; cadge, sponge: The geisha girls are forever mooching chocolates (1857+)
  2. To steal (1862+)
  3. To stroll; loaf along (1851+)

[fr earlier mowche, ''to pretend poverty; play truant,'' found by 1460, fr Old French muchier, ''to hide, skulk'']