mooch

1 of 2

verb

mooched; mooching; mooches
1
intransitive : to move slowly or apathetically : to wander aimlessly
… the rainy afternoons … spent mooching up and down the aisles of small-town pharmacies and hardware stores.Frederick Busch
2
transitive + intransitive : to get things from another or live off the generosity of others without providing any return payment or benefit : sponge
trying to mooch a cigarette
mooching money off her brother
has been mooching off his parents for years

mooch

2 of 2

noun

plural mooches
US, informal
: one who mooches off others : moocher
The last thing he needed was another mooch … trying to sap his energy and take his time …Steve Pond

Examples of mooch in a Sentence

Verb he's always mooching off of his friends, even though he can easily pay his own way I suspect she's mooching around in the background and keeping an eye on us.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Apple iCloud storage: $2.99 HBO: $15.99 Netflix: I just got kicked off my parents’ account so mooching on my roommate’s for now. R29 Team, refinery29.com, 2 Aug. 2024 Costco has made numerous efforts to stop membership mooching in recent years. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 25 Mar. 2024
Noun
Some mooch for social gain, others for intellectual stimulation. Isiah Magsino, Town & Country, 30 June 2023 Harry recalls a particularly tense Christmas at Sandringham, marred by bitterness over the Court Circular — the annual record of the royal family’s official engagements, which inspired the press to draw conclusions each year about who was a lazy mooch and who was a workhorse. Meredith Blakestaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2023 See all Example Sentences for mooch 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mooch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

probably from French dialect muchier to hide, lurk

First Known Use

Verb

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mooch was in 1851

Dictionary Entries Near mooch

Cite this Entry

“Mooch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mooch. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

mooch

verb
1
: to wander about
2
moocher noun
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