I. ˈmüch verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: probably from French dialect muchier to hide, lurk
intransitive verb
1. dialect chiefly Britain : to absent oneself : play truant
2. : to move slowly or apathetically : wander aimlessly : amble , saunter
the crowd mooched away in sullen disinterest — Bruce Marshall
hateful to be without a garden; there is nowhere to sit or mooch — Gladys B. Stern
mooched forward on to the grass where he sat down … and emitted two short, gruff barks — Mervyn Wall
the destroyer mooched around all over the channel for two weeks — Irwin Shaw
specifically : slink
heard I had been mooching round his house and spying — John Buchan
3. : to take without giving : impose on another's hospitality or generosity : sponge , cadge
mooched on relatives for a living so he could devote full time to his art
a rich young man addicted to mooching from his friends — Newsweek
4. West : to troll (as for salmon) with a spinner or spoon
the angler may spin or mooch on the same trip, as fancy dictates — Fisherman's Encyc.
transitive verb
1. : to take surreptitiously : make off with : sneak , steal
mooch an apple when the huckster isn't looking
2. : to get by coaxing or wheedling : cadge , beg
a dark-eyed urchin came up and tried to mooch a cigarette — Newsweek
forest ponies … line the roads on Sundays to mooch tea buns from picnickers — A.J.Liebling
II. noun
( -es )
1. slang : an act or instance of mooching : prowl , slouch ; specifically : a jazz dance of the 1920s characterized by sensuous hip jerking and knee shivering
2. slang
a. : moocher
b. : a customer looking for bargains ; specifically : an inexperienced stock speculator
suckers or mooches … who have in the past bought blue-sky stocks — Industrial Digest