scrunt

== English == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /skɹʌnt/ Rhymes: -ʌnt === Etymology 1 === Onomatopoetic. ==== Noun ==== scrunt (plural scrunts) An abrupt, high-pitched sound. 1894, Robert Barr, "Held Up," McClure's Magazine, 1893-1894 Dec-May, p. 309: Just as they were in the roughest part of the mountains, there was a wild shriek of the whistle, a sudden scrunt of the air-brakes, and the train, with an abruptness that was just short of an accident, stopped. 1901, David S. Meldrum, "The Conquest of Charlotte," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, v.171, 1902 Jan-Jun, pg. 128: But Jess would not budge, and all of a sudden I sees a white flash in the dark, and hears a rattle of harness, and a scrunt in the shafts as Jess shook her head clear of the blow. === Etymology 2 === ==== Noun ==== scrunt (plural scrunts) A beggar or destitute person. ===== Derived terms ===== scrunty ==== Verb ==== scrunt (third-person singular simple present scrunts, present participle scrunting, simple past and past participle scrunted) To beg or scrounge. 1979, Maurice Bishop, Selected Speeches, 1979-1981, Casa de las Américas, pg. 11: Four out of every five women are forced to stay at home or scrunt for a meagre existence.