mooch

mooch
mooch (v.) mid-15c., "pretend poverty," probably from O.Fr. 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 M.E. mucchen "to hoard, be stingy" (c.1300), probably originally "to keep coins in one's nightcap," from mucche "nightcap," from M.Du. muste "cap, nightcap," ultimately from M.L. 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.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • mooch — [mu:tʃ] v [T] [Date: 1400 1500; : Old French; Origin: muchier to hide ] AmE informal to get something by asking someone to give you it, instead of paying for it British Equivalent: scroungemooch sth off sb ▪ He tried to mooch a drink off me.… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • mooch´er — mooch «mooch», Slang. –v.t. 1. to get from another by begging or sponging; beg: »He mooches a couple of cigarettes off me every day. 2. to pilfer; steal. –v.i. 1. to sponge or beg shamelessly. 2. to sneak; …   Useful english dictionary

  • mooch — v. t. 1. to ask for and get free; to borrow without intending to repay; to sponge; usually with objects of small value; as, he mooched a few cigarettes from me. Syn: bum, cadge, grub, sponge. [WordNet 1.5] 2. To beg for. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mooch — [ mutʃ ] verb intransitive or transitive INFORMAL to ask someone to give you something instead of paying for it yourself. British cadge ╾ mooch|er noun count …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • mooch — mooch·er; mooch; …   English syllables

  • mooch — [v] cadge beg, borrow, bum*, bum off*, freeload, leach off*, scrounge, sponge; concept 89 …   New thesaurus

  • mooch — ► VERB Brit. informal ▪ loiter in a bored or listless way. ORIGIN originally meaning «to hoard», later (in English dialect) play truant to pick blackberries : probably from Old French muscher hide, skulk …   English terms dictionary

  • mooch — [mo͞och] Slang vi. [ME mowchen, dial. var. of mychen, to pilfer: see MICHE] 1. to skulk or sneak 2. to loiter, loaf, or rove about 3. to get food, money, etc. by begging or sponging vt. 1. to steal; pilfer …   English World dictionary

  • mooch — v. (slang) (AE) 1) (D; tr.) ( to beg for ) to mooch from (he mooched a cigarette from me) 2) (d; intr.) ( to sponge ) to mooch off of, on (to mooch on one s friends) * * * [muːtʃ] on (to mooch on one s friends) (d; intr.) ( to sponge ) to mooch… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • Mooch — Wikipedia does not have an encyclopedia article for Mooch (search results). You may want to read Wiktionary s entry on mooch instead.wiktionary:Special:Search/mooch …   Wikipedia

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