Definitions for Scour
skaʊər, ˈskaʊ ərscour

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. scourverb

   a place that is scoured (especially by running water)

2. scourverb

   examine minutely

   "The police scoured the country for the fugitive"

3. scrub, scourverb

   clean with hard rubbing

   "She scrubbed his back"

4. scour, abradeverb

   rub hard or scrub

   "scour the counter tops"

5. flush, scour, purgeverb

   rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid

   "flush the wound with antibiotics"; "purge the old gas tank"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scourverb

   To clean, polish, or wash something by scrubbing it vigorously.

   He scoured the burner pans, to remove the burnt spills.

2. scourverb

   To search an area thoroughly.

   They scoured the scene of the crime for clues.

3. scourverb

   Of livestock, to suffer from diarrhea.

   If a lamb is scouring, do not delay treatment.

4. scourverb

   To move swiftly.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To SCOURverb

   Etymology: skurer, Danish; scheueren, Dutch.

   1. To rub hard with any thing rough, in order to clean the surface.

   I were better to be eaten to death with a rust, than to be scour’d to nothing with perpetual motion. William Shakespeare, Hen. IV.

   By dint of sword his crown he shall increase,
   And scour his armour from the rust of peace. John Dryden, Æn.

   Part scour the rusty shields with seam, and part
   New grind the blunted ax, and point the dart. Dryden.

   Some blamed Mrs. Bull for grudging a quarter of a pound of soap and sand to scour the rooms. Arbuthnot.

   Poor Vadius, long with learned spleen devour’d,
   Can taste no pleasure since his shield was scour’d. Alexander Pope.

   2. To purge violently.3. To cleanse; to bleach; to whiten; to blanche.

   In some lakes the water is so nitrous, as, if foul clothes be put into it, it scoureth them of itself; and, if they stay, they moulder away. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

   A garden-worm should be well scoured eight days in moss, before you fish with him. Izaak Walton, Angler.

   Beneath the lamp her tawdry ribbons glare,
   The new scour’d manteau, and the slattern air. John Gay.

   4. To remove by scouring.

   Never came reformation in a flood
   With such a heady current, scouring faults;
   Nor ever hydra-headed wilfulness
   So soon did lose his seat, and all at once,
   As in this king. William Shakespeare, Henry V.

   I will wear a garment all of blood,
   And stain my favour in a bloody mask,
   Which, wash’d away, shall scour my shame with it. William Shakespeare.

   Then, in the clemency of upward air,
   We’ll scour our spots, and the dire thunder’s scar. Dryden.

   5. To range in order to catch or drive away something; to clear away.

   The kings of Lacedemon having set out some gallies, under the charge of one of their nephews, to scour the sea of the pyrates, they met us. Philip Sidney.

   Divers are kept continually to scour these seas, infested greatly by pirates. George Sandys.

   If with thy guards thou scour’st the streets by night,
   And do’st in murders, rapes, and spoils delight,
   Please not thyself the flatt’ring crowd to hear,
   ’Tis fulsome stuff. John Dryden, Pers.

   6. To pass swiftly over.

   Sometimes
   He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left. John Milton.

   Not half the number in their seats are found,
   But men and steeds lie grov’ling on the ground;
   The points of spears are stuck within the shield,
   The steeds without their riders scour the field,
   The knights unhors’d. Dryden.

   When Ajax strives some rock’s vast weight to throw,
   The line too labours, and the words move slow;
   Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
   Flies o’er th’ unbending corn, and skims along the main. Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism.

2. To Scourverb

   1. To perform the office of cleaning domestick utensils.

   I keep his house, and was to wring, brew, bake, scour, dress meat, and make the beds. William Shakespeare.

   2. To clean.

   Warm water is softer than cold; for it scoureth better. Francis Bacon.

   3. To be purged or lax.

   Some apothecaries, upon stamping coloquintida, have been put into a great scouring by the vapour only. Francis Bacon.

   Convulsion and scouring, they say, do often cause one another. John Graunt, Bills of Mortality.

   If you turn sheep into wheat or rye to feed, let it not be too rank, lest it make them scour. John Mortimer, Husbandry.

   4. To rove; to range.

   Barbarossa, thus scouring along the coast of Italy, struck an exceeding terror into the minds of the citizens of Rome. Richard Knolles.

   5. To run here and there.

   The enemy’s drum is heard, and fearful scouring
   Doth choak the air with dust. William Shakespeare, Timon.

   6. To run with great eagerness and swiftness; to scamper.

   She from him fled with all her pow’r,
   Who after her as hastily ’gan to scour. Fairy Queen.

   I saw men scour so on their way: I ey’d them
   Even to their ships. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

   Word was brought him, in the middle of his schemes, that his house was robbed; and so away he scours to learn the truth. Roger L'Estrange.

   If they be men of fraud, they’ll scour off themselves, and leave those that trust them to pay the reckoning. Roger L'Estrange.

   So four fierce coursers, starting to the race,
   Scour through the plain, and lengthen ev’ry pace;
   Nor reins, nor curbs, nor threat’ning cries they fear,
   But force along the trembling charioteer. Dryden.

   As soon as any foreign object presses upon the sense, those spirits, which are posted upon the out-guards, immediately take the alarm, and scour off to the brain, which is the head quarters. Collier.

   Swift at her call her husband scour’d away,
   To wreak his hunger on the destin’d prey. Alexander Pope.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scour

   Scour generally refers to the process of thoroughly cleaning or searching something. It can mean: 1) To clean or polish by hard rubbing, often with a scrubbing or abrasive material. 2) To remove dirt or unwanted elements from a surface or material. 3) To look over thoroughly in search of something; to conduct an exhaustive search or investigation. Scour is also a term used in hydrology, referring to the erosion or degradation of a surface (often a river bed) by fast-flowing water.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scourverb

   to rub hard with something rough, as sand or Bristol brick, especially for the purpose of cleaning; to clean by friction; to make clean or bright; to cleanse from grease, dirt, etc., as articles of dress

2. Scourverb

   to purge; as, to scour a horse

3. Scourverb

   to remove by rubbing or cleansing; to sweep along or off; to carry away or remove, as by a current of water; -- often with off or away

4. Scourverb

   to pass swiftly over; to brush along; to traverse or search thoroughly; as, to scour the coast

5. Scourverb

   to clean anything by rubbing

6. Scourverb

   to cleanse anything

7. Scourverb

   to be purged freely; to have a diarrhoea

8. Scourverb

   to run swiftly; to rove or range in pursuit or search of something; to scamper

9. Scournoun

   diarrhoea or dysentery among cattle

10. Etymology: [Akin to LG. schren, D. schuren, schueren, G. scheuern, Dan. skure; Sw. skura; all possibly fr. LL. escurare, fr. L. ex + curare to take care. Cf. Cure.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scour

   skowr, v.t. to clean by rubbing with something rough: to cleanse from grease or dirt: to remove by rubbing: to cleanse by a current: to search thoroughly by scrubbing: to cleanse by brushing: to purge drastically.—n. the action of a strong current in a narrow channel: violent purging.—ns. Scour′age, refuse water after scouring; Scour′er, drastic cathartic; Scour′ing, in angling, the freshening of angle-worms for bait by putting them in clean sand; Scour′ing-ball, a ball composed of soap, &c., for removing stains of grease.—n.pl. Scour′ing-drops, a mixture of oil of turpentine and oil of lemon used for removing stains.—ns. Scour′ing-rush, one of the horse-tails; Scour′ing-stock, in woollen manufacture, an apparatus in which cloths are treated to remove the oil and to cleanse them in the process of manufacture. [O. Fr. escurer—L. excurāre, to take great care of.]

2. Scour

   skowr, v.i. to run with swiftness: to scurry along.—v.t. to run quickly over.—n. Scour′er, a footpad. [O. Fr. escourre—L. excurrĕre, to run forth.]

Matched Categories

1. • Rub
   • Search

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for Scour »

1. cours

How to pronounce Scour?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Scour in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Scour in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Scour in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of Scour in a Sentence

1. Ellen Willson Hoover:

   With ongoing COVID-19 changes and closures, please know there is a chance that your test center may close between now and test day. even with a list, why is ACT expecting us to scour websites every day for cancellations ?

2. Ellen Willson Hoover:

   Even with a list, why is ACT expecting us to scour websites every day for cancellations ?

3. Ross Baird:

   It’s their money, which leads them to play it safe and scour the same homogeneous networks for deals.

4. Toby Baker:

   We have to get through the boil water first, which could take two to three weeks, after that we have to get chlorine levels to a state that can burn the entire system, scour the system, and kill the amoebas, that could take up to an additional 60 days.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Scour
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scour
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Scour
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Scour
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=Scour
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Scour