/ˈskaʊə/, /ˈskaʊɚ/, /skaʊɹ/
OriginFrom Middle English scǒuren (“to polish, scour; to clean; to beat, whip”), from Middle Dutch scuren, schuren (“to clean; to polish”) or Middle Low German schǖren, of uncertain origin but probably from Old French escurer, from Medieval Latin scūrō, escūrō, excūrō (“to clean off”), from ex- (“thoroughly”) + cūrō (“to arrange, see to, take care of”), from cūra (“care, concern”) (from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- (“to heed”)) + -ō.
The word is cognate with Danish skure, Middle High German schüren, schiuren (modern German scheuern (“to scour, scrub; to chafe”)), Norwegian skura (“to scrub”), Swedish skura, Catalan escurar.
- transitiveTo clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
“He scoured the burnt food from the pan.”
“If tranſcribers and printers, or editors, will be perpetually varying from the ſpelling of their author, we ſhall neceſſarily have a conſtant ſource of corruption: for by this alteration, which inſenſ”
“They all looked directly at the ſcullion,—the ſcullion had juſt been ſcouring a fiſh-kettle.”
- transitiveTo remove debris and dirt (from something) by purging; to sweep along or off by a current of water.
“I will redeeme all this on Percies head, / And in the cloſing of ſome glorious day / Be bold to tell you that I am your ſonne, / When I will weare a garment all of bloud, / And ſtaine my fauors in a b” — I will redeem myself by defeating Percy, / And at the close of some glorious day, / [I will] be bold to tell you that I am your son, / When I will be covered in blood like wearing a garment, / And my
“It has already been explained that the ebb tide in the Hooghly is a much more powerful scouring agent than the flood tide, that the tide therefore should be used for scouring a channel in preference t”
- transitiveTo clear the digestive tract (of an animal) by administering medication that induces defecation or vomiting; to purge.
- ambitransitiveTo (cause livestock to) suffer from diarrhoea or dysentery.
“If a lamb is scouring, do not delay treatment.”
“It has been stated by trustworthy authorities that certain waters in the lias-formation possess scouring properties. […] Mr. Clarke likewise mentions two cases. "In one instance," he says, "a large pi”
- ambitransitive, obsoleteTo cleanse (something) without rubbing.
“It is reported, that in ſome Lakes, the Water is ſo Nitrous, as if Foule Cloathes be put into it, it ſcoureth them of it ſelfe: And if they ſtay any whit long, they moulder away. And the Scouring Vert”
“Flanders soap is the substance which appeared to act in the most advantageous manner; it scowers very speedily, and gives wool a degree of whiteness which it is extremely difficult to produce by any o”
- transitiveTo search an area thoroughly.
“They scoured the scene of the crime for clues.”
“A search engine will scour the web for you.”
“Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, and black rounding eyes— […] all this sufficiently proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior hunters, who, in ”
- intransitiveTo run with speed; to scurry.
“Lord. Behind the tuft of Pines I met them, neuer
Saw I men scowre so on their way: I eyed them
Euen to their Ships.”
“So four fierce Courſers ſtarting to the Race, / Scow'r thro' the Plain, and lengthen ev'ry Pace: / Nor Reigns, nor Curbs, nor threat'ning Cries they fear, / But force along the trembling Charioteer.”
“This particularly obtains in all Parliamentary affairs. Whether the business in hand be to get a man in, or get a man out, or get a man over, or promote a railway, or jockey a railway, or what else, n”
- transitiveTo move swiftly over; to brush along.
“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”
“We near him! We near him [an ostrich]! Ah, laggard, 'tis vain / That with rapid feet casting the dusty clouds back, / In circles wide wheeling, thou scourest the plain, / For Ayoud, untiring, is close”
- countable, uncountableThe removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.
“Bridge scour may scoop out scour holes and compromise the integrity of the structure.”
“The general manner of working this sluice is to take in every alternate tide during the high tides in dry weather, and to let them off for scours for the harbour. In wet weather, or during neap tides,”
“It is believed that scour, caused by record river flows as a result of snow melt and heavy rainfall, triggered the collapse of the Yellowstone Twin River Bridges in Stillwater County, Montana, on June”
- countable, uncountableA place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a waterfall.
“Fish as near the middle of the stream as you can in the spring months, and also on the shallows and scowers; but in the winter, in deep holes; let the bait drag two or three inches on the ground.”
“Trout always have a recognised home of their own, inhabited by a pretty fixed number of individuals. If you catch the two sole denizens of a particular scour, you will find another pair installed in t”
- countable, uncountableA place where wool is washed to remove grease and impurities prior to processing.
“I am particularly interested in the wool processing indusries, which make a major contribution to the Hawke's Bay regional economy. There are five wool scours in the area, all of them located within t”
- countable, uncountableDiarrhoea, in livestock; scouring.
“The Cause and Nature of the Skit, or Scour, of Sheep and Lambs.”
“[…] lambs, and on the appearance of the skit or scour, the necessity for a change of food is indicated.”
Formsscours(present, singular, third-person) · scouring(participle, present) · scoured(participle, past) · scoured(past) · scower(alternative) · scours(plural)