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scrumping

Stealing apples — specifically from someone else's orchard.

ˈskrʌmp.ɪŋDocumented since 1800sSilenthistoricalHistorical141 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
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Born ~1800 · 2 years of recorded use
1800Born2009: 1 citation2016: 1 citationToday, 2026

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UK
#1·Apr 26, 2026UK

Stealing apples — specifically from someone else's orchard. West Country tradition. By extension, any small fruit theft.

"Used to go scrumping as kids."
Origin: West Country English; "scrump" meaning a withered apple; the verb "scrumping" = stealing said apples, since at least the 1800s.
Cluster: steal
Heard in the wild
  • Photograph: Marcus J leith Photographer/Marcus J Leith This article is more than **9 years old** # Fruit scrumping, cavaliers and filth in Westminster – the week in art This article is more than 9 years old Jorge Otero-Pailos’ astonishing The Ethics of Dust opens in the Palace of Westminster, removing dirt – but not shame – from parliament.

  • Photograph: Jim Wileman This article is more than **16 years old** # Modern manners: scrumping This article is more than 16 years old Would you be happy for people to scrump your unharvested produce?

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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang

UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.

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