Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Scavenger \Scav"en*ger\, n. [OE. scavager an officer with
   various duties, originally attending to scavage, fr. OE. & E.
   scavage. See {Scavage}, {Show}, v.]
   A person whose employment is to clean the streets of a city,
   by scraping or sweeping, and carrying off the filth. The name
   is also applied to any animal which devours refuse, carrion,
   or anything injurious to health.

   {Scavenger beetle} (Zo["o]l.), any beetle which feeds on
      decaying substances, as the carrion beetle.

   {Scavenger crab} (Zo["o]l.), any crab which feeds on dead
      animals, as the spider crab.

   {Scavenger's daughter} [corrupt. of Skevington's daughter],
      an instrument of torture invented by Sir W. Skevington,
      which so compressed the body as to force the blood to flow
      from the nostrils, and sometimes from the hands and feet.
      --Am. Cyc.