scamper
Americanverb (used without object)
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to run or go hastily or quickly.
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to run playfully about, as a child.
noun
verb
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to run about playfully
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(often foll by through) to hurry quickly through (a place, task, book, etc)
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has scamperedperfect 3rd person singular
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have scamperedperfect
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has been scamperingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is scamperingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are scamperingprogressive
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am scamperingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been scamperingperfect progressive
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scamperssingular 3rd person
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scamperingparticiple
Past
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had scamperedperfect
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had been scamperingperfect progressive
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was scamperingprogressive singular
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scamperedparticiple
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were scamperingprogressive plural
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scamperedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of scamper
Explanation
To scamper is to move in a hurry. You and your friends might scamper to catch the bus, or your kitten might scamper to catch a mouse. The verb scamper describes something that's moving in disorderly haste, often out of fear or excitement. You might notice that chipmunks scamper the instant your dog goes outside. You can also use scamper as a noun, when you talk about your death-defying scamper across town in an effort to be on time for your first day of work. Scamper was a very popular word in the late 1800s.
Vocabulary lists containing scamper
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But whether the Jam Tarts scamper over the line on Saturday, they can be certain that one group of Edinburgh residents won’t be joining the party.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Thought and feeling bubble up beneath visible restraint—she’ll let a nervous glance scamper this way or that, or wear a smile that’s still crimped at the edges amid the teasing interplay of her peers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
Her range of passing put the ever-impressive Meg Jones into a hole, before another lovely wide ball gave Abby Dow space to scamper in for her 50th England try.
From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025
Jordan broke away for a 36-yard touchdown scamper.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2025
On the bottoms lie the incredible refuse of the sea, shells broken and chipped and bits of skeleton, claws, the whole sea bottom a fantastic cemetery on which the living scamper and scramble.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
