scour

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scour¹

(skour)

v. scoured, scour·ing, scours

v.tr.

a. To clean, polish, or wash by scrubbing vigorously: scour a dirty oven.

b. To remove by scrubbing: scour grease from a pan.

2. To remove dirt or grease from (cloth or fibers) by means of a detergent.

3. To clean (wheat) before the milling process.

4. To clear (an area) by freeing of weeds or other vegetation.

5. To clear (a channel or pipe) by flushing.

v.intr.

1. To scrub something in order to clean or polish it.

2. To have diarrhea. Used of livestock.

1. A scouring action or effect.

2. A place that has been scoured, as by flushing with water.

3. A cleansing agent for wool.

4. scours(used with a sing. or pl. verb) Diarrhea in livestock.

[Middle English scouren, from Middle Dutch scūren, from Old French escurer, from Late Latin excūrāre, to clean out : Latin ex-, ex-, Late Latin cūrāre, to clean (from Latin, to take care of, from cūra, care; see cure).]

scour′er n.

scour²

(skour)

v. scoured, scour·ing, scours

v.tr.

1. To search through or over thoroughly: The detective scoured the scene of the crime for clues.

2. To range over (an area) quickly and energetically.

v.intr.

1. To range over or about an area, especially in a search.

2. To move swiftly; scurry.

[Middle English scouren, to move swiftly, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skūr, shower.]

scour′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

scour

(skaʊə)

1. to clean or polish (a surface) by washing and rubbing, as with an abrasive cloth

2. to remove dirt from or have the dirt removed from

3. (tr) to clear (a channel) by the force of water; flush

4. (tr) to remove by or as if by rubbing

5. (Veterinary Science) (intr) (of livestock, esp cattle) to have diarrhoea

6. (Veterinary Science) (tr) to cause (livestock) to purge their bowels

7. (Textiles) (tr) to wash (wool) to remove wax, suint, and other impurities

8. the act of scouring

9. the place scoured, esp by running water

10. something that scours, such as a cleansing agent

11. (Veterinary Science) (often plural) prolonged diarrhoea in livestock, esp cattle

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

ˈscourer n

scour

(skaʊə)

1. to range over (territory), as in making a search

2. to move swiftly or energetically over (territory)

[C14: from Old Norse skūr]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

scour¹

(skaʊ^ər, ˈskaʊ ər)

v.

1. to cleanse or polish by hard rubbing, as with an abrasive material.

2. to remove (dirt, grease, etc.) from something by hard rubbing.

3. to clear or dig out (a channel, drain, etc.), as by the force of water.

4. to purge thoroughly, as an animal.

5. to clear or rid of what is undesirable.

6. to remove by or as if by cleansing; get rid of.

7. to clean or rid of debris, impurities, etc., by or as if by washing, as cotton or wool.

v.i.

8. to cleanse or polish a surface by hard rubbing.

9. to become clean and shiny when scoured.

10. the act of scouring.

11. the place scoured.

12. an implement or preparation used in scouring.

13. the erosive force of moving water.

14. Usu., scours. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) diarrhea in horses and cattle caused by intestinal infection.

[1250–1300; Middle English (v.) < Middle Dutch scūren < Old French escurer < Latin excūrāre to take care of (Medieval Latin escūrāre to clean)]

scour′er, n.

scour²

(skaʊ^ər, ˈskaʊ ər)

v.

1. to range over, as in search: to scour the countryside for a lost child.

2. to run or pass quickly over or along.

v.i.

3. to range about, as in search of something.

4. to move rapidly or energetically.

[1250–1300; Middle English, appar. v. derivative of scour, in phrase god scour quickly]

scour′er, n.

scour

Past participle: scoured
Gerund: scouring

Imperative
scour
scour

Present
I scour
you scour
he/she/it scours
we scour
you scour
they scour

Preterite
I scoured
you scoured
he/she/it scoured
we scoured
you scoured
they scoured

Present Continuous
I am scouring
you are scouring
he/she/it is scouring
we are scouring
you are scouring
they are scouring

Present Perfect
I have scoured
you have scoured
he/she/it has scoured
we have scoured
you have scoured
they have scoured

Past Continuous
I was scouring
you were scouring
he/she/it was scouring
we were scouring
you were scouring
they were scouring

Past Perfect
I had scoured
you had scoured
he/she/it had scoured
we had scoured
you had scoured
they had scoured

Future
I will scour
you will scour
he/she/it will scour
we will scour
you will scour
they will scour

Future Perfect
I will have scoured
you will have scoured
he/she/it will have scoured
we will have scoured
you will have scoured
they will have scoured

Future Continuous
I will be scouring
you will be scouring
he/she/it will be scouring
we will be scouring
you will be scouring
they will be scouring

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been scouring
you have been scouring
he/she/it has been scouring
we have been scouring
you have been scouring
they have been scouring

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been scouring
you will have been scouring
he/she/it will have been scouring
we will have been scouring
you will have been scouring
they will have been scouring

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been scouring
you had been scouring
he/she/it had been scouring
we had been scouring
you had been scouring
they had been scouring

Conditional
I would scour
you would scour
he/she/it would scour
we would scour
you would scour
they would scour

Past Conditional
I would have scoured
you would have scoured
he/she/it would have scoured
we would have scoured
you would have scoured
they would have scoured

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

Scour

When the soil being plowed does not stick to the plow shovel or moldboard, but rather slides off smoothly.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	scour - a place that is scoured (especially by running water) place, spot, topographic point - a point located with respect to surface features of some region; "this is a nice place for a picnic"; "a bright spot on a planet"
Verb	1.	scour - examine minutely; "The police scoured the country for the fugitive" look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the missing man in the entire county"
	2.	scour - clean with hard rubbing; "She scrubbed his back" scrub rub - move over something with pressure; "rub my hands"; "rub oil into her skin" holystone - scrub with a holystone; "holystone the ship's deck"
	3.	scour - rub hard or scrub; "scour the counter tops" abrade rub - move over something with pressure; "rub my hands"; "rub oil into her skin"
	4.	scour - rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid; "flush the wound with antibiotics"; "purge the old gas tank" flush, purge rinse, rinse off - wash off soap or remaining dirt

scour

verb scrub, clean, polish, rub, cleanse, buff, burnish, whiten, furbish, abrade He decided to scour the sink.

scour

verb search, hunt, comb, ransack, forage, look high and low, go over with a fine-tooth comb We scoured the telephone directory for clues.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

scour¹

verb

1. To rub hard in order to clean:

scrub.

2. To remove (an outer layer or adherent matter) by rubbing a surface with considerable pressure:

scrape, scrub.

scour²

verb

1. To make a thorough search of:

comb, forage, ransack, rummage.

Slang: shake down.

Idioms: beat the bushes, leave no stone unturned, look high and low, look up and down, turn inside out, turn upside down.

2. To move swiftly:

bolt, bucket, bustle, dart, dash, festinate, flash, fleet, flit, fly, haste, hasten, hurry, hustle, pelt, race, rocket, run, rush, sail, scoot, shoot, speed, sprint, tear, trot, whirl, whisk, whiz, wing, zip, zoom.

Informal: hotfoot, rip.

Slang: barrel, highball.

Chiefly British: nip.

Idioms: get a move on, get cracking, go like lightning, go like the wind, hotfoot it, make haste, make time, make tracks, run like the wind, shake a leg, step on it.

Translations

يُنَقِّبُ عَن، يُفَتِّشُ عَن

cíditprohledat

gennemsøgeskure

absuchen scheuern

confricar

battre fouiller récurer

grannskoîaskúra, skrúbba, òvo meî nuddi

strofinare correre velocemente detersivo diarrea pulizia

berztizķemmētpārmeklēttīrīt

skrubbe skure

didik didik etmekiyice aramakovarak temizlemek

擦亮擦净遍地搜索

scour

[ˈskaʊəʳ]

A. VT

1. [+ pan, floor] → fregar, restregar (esp LAm); [+ channel] → limpiar

2. (= search) → registrar
we scoured the countryside for him → hicimos una batida por el campo buscándole

B. VI to scour about for sth → buscar algo por todas partes

scour out VT + ADV [+ pan etc] → fregar, restregar (esp LAm); [+ channel] → limpiar
the river had scoured out part of the bank → el río se había llevado una parte de la orilla

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

scour

[ˈskaʊə^r] vt

(= scrub) [+ pan, sink] → récurer; [+ floor, table] → frotter

(= search) [+ countryside, area, town] → passer au peigne fin; [+ shops] → écumer; [+ records, newspapers] → examiner
He scoured the advertisements for teaching posts → Il a écumé les annonces à la recherche de postes d'enseignant.
Officers have scoured the city for the missing man → Les agents ont passé la ville au peigne fin pour retrouver l'homme disparu.
Traders were scouring the villages for family treasures → Les négociants écumaient les villages à la recherche de trésors de famille.

scour

vt → scheuern

n → Scheuern nt; give the pan a good scour → scheuern Sie den Topf gründlich

scour

vt area, town, shops → absuchen, abkämmen (for nach); newspaper → durchkämmen (for nach)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

scour

[ˈskaʊəʳ] vt

a. (clean, pan, floor) → sfregare

b. (search, area, countryside) → setacciare, perlustrare, battere palmo a palmo

scour¹

(ˈskauə) verb

to clean by hard rubbing.

scour²

(ˈskauə) verb

to make a thorough search of. They scoured the woods for the child.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

He never could go after even a turnip-cart but he must have the swords and guns all scoured up for it, though they was only lath and broomsticks, and you might scour at them till you rotted, and then they warn't worth a mouthful of ashes more than what they was before.

View in context

It is annoy- ing and difficult to scour around after hogs, in armor.

Also among the missing were several mere baronesses -- and I wanted them to stay missing; but no, all that sausage-meat had to be found; so servants were sent out with torches to scour the woods and hills to that end.

View in context

"There's a strong scour with the ebb," he said, "and this here passage has been dug out, in a manner of speaking, with a spade."

View in context

Rewards had been offered, the country had been scoured, but no Injun Joe was found.

View in context

He darts across the road into the boy's path, but the boy is quicker than he, makes a curve, ducks, dives under his hands, comes up half-a-dozen yards beyond him, and scours away again.

View in context

After a long interval they returned, leading the frightened horse; but though they had scoured the country, and looked out and shouted from every height, they had seen nothing of his rider.

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Tashtego's long, lean, sable hair, his high cheek bones, and black rounding eyes --for an Indian, Oriental in their largeness, but Antarctic in their glittering expression --all this sufficiently proclaimed him an inheritor of the unvitiated blood of those proud warrior hunters, who, in quest of the great New England moose, had scoured, bow in hand, the aboriginal forests of the main.

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We gave her chase, in hopes of being informed by the crew whether there were any Arabian vessels at the mouth of the strait; but the Moors, who all entertain dismal apprehensions of the Franks, plied their oars and sail with the utmost diligence, and as soon as they reached land, quitted their boat, and scoured to the mountains.

View in context

He scoured and polished it as best he could, but he perceived one great defect in it, that it had no closed helmet, nothing but a simple morion.

View in context

For this purpose he ordered it to be well scoured with soap and sand and polished with wax, and then provided it with a substantial leather cush- ion.

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