View synonyms for scour

scour

[ skouuhr, skou-er ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to remove dirt, grease, etc., from or to cleanse or polish by hard rubbing, as with a rough or abrasive material:
to scour pots and pans.
Synonyms: rub, shine, buff, burnish
to remove (dirt, grease, etc.) from something by hard rubbing:
to scour grease from pots and pans.
to clear or dig out (a channel, drain, etc.) as by the force of water, by removing debris, etc.
to purge thoroughly, as an animal.
to clear or rid of what is undesirable:
to scour the nation of spies.
to remove by or as if by cleansing; get rid of.
to clean or rid of debris, impurities, etc., by or as if by washing, as cotton or wool.
Metallurgy. (of the contents of a blast furnace) to rub against and corrode (the refractory lining).

verb (used without object)

to rub a surface in order to cleanse or polish it.
to remove dirt, grease, etc.
to become clean and shiny.
to be capable of being cleaned by rubbing:
The roasting pan scours easily.
(of a plow, cultivator, etc.) to pass through the ground without soil clinging to the blade.
(of a plow, shovel, etc.) to become polished from use.

noun

the act of scouring.
the place scoured.
an apparatus or material used in scouring; scourer:
Sand is a good scour.
the erosive force of moving water, as in a river or sea.
Usually scours. (used with a singular or plural verb) Veterinary Pathology. diarrhea in horses and cattle caused by intestinal infection.

scour

[ skouuhr, skou-er ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

to range over, as in a search:
They scoured the countryside for the lost child.
Synonyms: ransack, rake, hunt, comb
to run or pass quickly over or along.

verb (used without object)

to range about, as in search of something.
to move rapidly or energetically.

scour

/ skaʊə /

verb

to range over (territory), as in making a search
to move swiftly or energetically over (territory)

scour

/ skaʊə /

verb

to clean or polish (a surface) by washing and rubbing, as with an abrasive cloth
to remove dirt from or have the dirt removed from
tr to clear (a channel) by the force of water; flush
tr to remove by or as if by rubbing
intr (of livestock, esp cattle) to have diarrhoea
tr to cause (livestock) to purge their bowels
tr to wash (wool) to remove wax, suint, and other impurities

noun

the act of scouring
the place scoured, esp by running water
something that scours, such as a cleansing agent
often plural prolonged diarrhoea in livestock, esp cattle

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Derived Forms

ˈscourer, noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of scour¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English verb scoure(n), score(n), from Middle Dutch sc(h)ūren, Middle Low German schüren, from Old French escurer (compare Medieval Latin escūrāre ), from Latin excūrāre “to take good care of,” equivalent to ex- ¹ + cūrāre “to care for”; cure ( def )

Origin of scour²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English scouren, scure; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old Norse skūr “storm, shower, shower of missles”; perhaps from Old French ecsour(r)e, escorir “to rush out or forth,” from Latin excurrere

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Word History and Origins

Origin of scour¹

C14: from Old Norse skūr

Origin of scour²

C13: via Middle Low German schūren, from Old French escurer, from Late Latin excūrāre to cleanse, from cūrāre; see cure

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Example Sentences

Donald Rabin had scoured train after train in Chicago for four hours.

From Washington Post

She scoured literature, art, philosophy and psychology to describe how society often attaches a moral dimension to illness.

From Washington Post

Families have spent hours on the hotlines, scoured appointments on platforms like the ticket sales site Eventbrite, and posted desperately on local news sites like Patch and Nextdoor.

From MIT Technology Review

That said, the model still predicts some snow in the storm’s initial phase early Sunday before the cold air is scoured out and precipitation changes to a wintry mix and rain, not unlike the storm system Monday night.

From Washington Post

Lately, though, “Polly thought her mind was a river, constantly scouring and pooling, constantly disappearing, filling with details that glinted and vanished.”

From Washington Post

A delightful cast battles over a will and a stolen painting as a horde of pseudo-Nazis scour the mountains for fugitives.

From The Daily Beast

Immediately after the attack, Philip used his searchlights to scour the ocean for survivors to rescue.

From The Daily Beast

Every day, the two men, part of a 25-person outreach force, scour the streets looking for people everyone else wants to ignore.

From The Daily Beast

Immediately after the attack, Philip used his searchlights to scour the ocean for survivors.

From The Daily Beast

Geophysical Research Letters: Bottom scour observed under Hurricane Ivan.

From The Daily Beast

And it seems likely that the King loved him all the more because he could cook and scour for his sake.

From Project Gutenberg

It isn't that the floor is not scoured, for you cannot scour dry mud into anything but wet mud.

From Project Gutenberg

He sent off the old man to scour the pantry for a supper for me, and then pushed open the door and led me into the room.

From Project Gutenberg

But Felix was thinking about "Scour, mop, and dry it," as he looked at the snow-covered patch of land.

From Project Gutenberg

Can you not turn for one look in your enemy's face, ere you scour away before him like a herd of frightened deer?

From Project Gutenberg

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