

scud
1 [skuhd]
verb, scud⋅ded, scud⋅ding, noun | 1. | to run or move quickly or hurriedly. |
| 2. | Nautical. to run before a gale with little or no sail set. |
| 3. | Archery. (of an arrow) to fly too high and wide of the mark. |
| 4. | the act of scudding. |
| 5. | clouds, spray, or mist driven by the wind; a driving shower or gust of wind. |
| 6. | low-drifting clouds appearing beneath a cloud from which precipitation is falling. |
1525–35; < MLG schudden to shake

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Scud
Scud\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Scudded; p. pr. & vb. n. Scudding.] [Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. [root]159. See Shoot.]1. To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something. The first nautilus that scudded upon the glassy surface of warm primeval oceans. --I. Taylor. The wind was high; the vast white clouds scudded over the blue heaven. --Beaconsfield. 2. (Naut.) To be driven swiftly, or to run, before a gale, with little or no sail spread.Scud
Scud\, v. t. To pass over quickly. [R.] --Shenstone.Scud
Scud\, n. 1. The act of scudding; a driving along; a rushing with precipitation. 2. Loose, vapory clouds driven swiftly by the wind. Borne on the scud of the sea. --Longfellow. The scud was flying fast above us, throwing a veil over the moon. --Sir S. Baker. 3. A slight, sudden shower. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright. 4. (Zo["o]l.) A small flight of larks, or other birds, less than a flock. [Prov. Eng.] 5. (Zo["o]l.) Any swimming amphipod crustacean. Storm scud. See the Note under Cloud.Cite This Source
scud (v.)
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scud
any member of the invertebrate order Amphipoda (class Crustacea) inhabiting all parts of the sea, lakes, rivers, sand beaches, caves, and moist (warm) habitats on many tropical islands. Marine amphipods have been found at depths of more than 9,100 m (30,000 feet). Freshwater and marine beach species are commonly known as scuds; those that occupy sand beaches are called sand hoppers, or sand fleas (see sand flea). About 4,600 species have been described. Extraordinarily abundant in the rocky coastal regions of all seas and often exceeding densities of 10,000 per square m (1,000 per square foot), amphipods are often mistaken for tiny shrimp, which they resemble. They are important food for many fishes, invertebrates, penguins, shore birds, small cetaceans, and pinnipeds. Amphipods are also important as scavengers of carrion
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