Scour

Definition: Scour

Scour

Noun

1. A place that is scoured (especially by running water).

Verb

1. Examine minutely; "The police scoured the country for the fugitive".

2. Clean with hard rubbing; "She scrubbed his back".

3. Scour a surface.

4. Rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid; "flush the wound with antibiotics".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "scour" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Note: Scour \Scour\ (skour), transitive verb. [imperfect & past participle. Scoured; Scouring.]. (references)

Building & Civil Engineering

Food & Agriculture

Geography

Industry

Mining

Slang in 1811

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Scour

Cleanness

Clean, cleanse; mundify, rinse, wring, flush, full, wipe, mop, sponge, scour, swab, scrub, brush up.

Friction

Verb: rub, scratch, scrape, scrub, slide, fray, rasp, graze, curry, scour, polish, rub out, wear down, gnaw; file, grind. (reduce to powder).

Journey

Flit, take wing; migrate, emigrate; trek; rove, prowl, roam, range, patrol, pace up and down, traverse; scour the country, traverse the country; peragrate; circumambulate, perambulate; nomadize, wander, ramble, stroll, saunter, hover, go one's rounds, straggle; gad, gad about; expatiate.

Velocity

Verb: move quickly, trip, fisk; speed, hie, hasten, post, spank, scuttle; scud, scuddle; scour, scour the plain; scamper; run like mad, beat it; fly, race, run a race, cut away, shot, tear, whisk, zoom, swoosh, sweep, skim, brush; cut along, bowl along, barrel along, barrel; scorch, burn up the track; rush; (be violent); dash on, dash off, dash forward; bolt; trot, gallop, amble, troll, bound, flit, spring, dart, boom; march in quick time, march in double time; ride hard, get over the ground.

Crosswords: Scour

I'LL TAKE A SHOWER, I WILL SCOUR (Never Ever; performing artist: All Saints)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Bridge Scour (reference)

• Caesar: An Expert System for Evaluation of Scour and Stream Stability (reference)

• Effect of Unsteadiness and Stratification on Local Scour (reference)

• Hec Six Scour and Deposition in Rivers and Reservoirs (reference)

• Ice Scour Bibliography (Environmental Studies Revolving Funds Report, No 010) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Fishermen on the bridge using acoustic instruments to locate tuna. Lookouts also scour the water surface looking for signs of surfacing tuna suggesting the presence of a school. Credit: Fisheries.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

He brought his own knife, though I had two, and we used to scour them by thrusting them into the earth

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "scour": abnormal scour ♦ scour about ♦ scour after ♦ scour away ♦ scour basin ♦ scour cast ♦ scour finger ♦ scour hole ♦ scour off ♦ scour the country ♦ scour the seas ♦ scour valve ♦ wind scour. Additional references.

Beginning with "scour": scour-and-fill, scour-out.

Ending with "scour": wind-scour.

Albanian

pastroj (abrade, char, clarify, clean, cleanse, clear up, defecate, depurate, deterge, eliminate, grub, gut, lustrate, pick, purge, rarefy, rectify, refine, scavenge, scrub, sweep, try), pastrim (abrasion, abstersion, clarification, clean, cleaning, cleanup, clearance, defecation, depuration, lustration, mopping, purge, purification, rectification, refinement, refining, scouring, scrub, scrub up, sweep), larje (bathe, bathing, cleansing, cleanup, development, lavement, wash, washing), laj (bathe, clear, do, elutriate, flush, liquidate, pay up, rinse out, settle, sponge, take out, wash), kruaj tiganin, heq (abate, abolish, avert, bereave, blow, call off, cast, clear away, clear out, cross, cut off, cut out, deduct, delete, derogate, detach, detrude, dislodge, dismiss, dismount, divest, do away with, doff, drag, draw, drop, eject, eliminate, erase, exhaust, expel, exscind, extract, gather in, generate, get off, jump, keep off, kill, lift, lift off, move off, off with, omit, oust, peel back, pick off, pull at, pull off, pull out, put aside, put off, relegate, remove, save, scratch, scratch off, scratch out, shake out, shed, skim, skip, soothe, spay, strike off, strip, subtract, swing, take away, take off, take out, tear away, throw out, turn away, undergo, unhang, unhook, unpin, unstring), grij (canker, chew, cut into pieces, grate, grind, hash, mince, scrape, shred), gërryen (bite). (various references)

Arabic 

‏فرك (chafe, rub, rubbing, scrape, scrub, stone), ‏موضع منظف, ‏مشط (card, clip, coif the hair, coiffure the hair, comb, do the hair, do up the hair, dress, reed, style the hair, tease), ‏نقب (burrow, burrowing, comb, delve, drilling, excavation, fish, mine, piercing, pry, quest, rake, ransack, root, rout out, rummage, scrabble about, scrutinize, sleuth), ‏نظف (char, clean, clean out, clear, clear away, do, mop, pan, purge, purify, rub, sanitize, scavenge, scrub, swab, wash out), ‏طهر القنوات, ‏طهر (circumcise, decontaminate, depurate, disinfect, exorcise, exorcize, mop up, pureness, purge, purify, rid, sanitize, show, sterilize, sweeten), ‏طاف (afloat, buoyant, circuit, cruise, floating, promenade, range, roam, roll, rove, swag, tour, travel), ‏صقل (buff, buffer, burn, burnish, cultivate, enamel, furbish, gloss, glossiness, grind, lacquer, perfect, planish, plume, polish, refine, rumble, shine, sleek, smooth, stone), ‏جلا (be evacuated, evacuate, pan, polish, puzzle out, rub, scrub, shine, wash). (various references)

Bulgarian 

бързо течение, дълбоко течение, излъскване (polish), изтъркване (abrasion, attrition, detrition, fraying, scrub, wear), изчистване (cleaning), имам диария, преброждам (measure, roam, rove, tramp, wander), претърсвам (beat, draw, fish for, forage around, hunt for, rake over, rake trough, ransack, rummage in, search, seek through), промивам (bathe, irrigate, lave, pan, sluice, wash), движа се бързо (clip, double, hasten, jump, scud, shift, spank, speed, spin, travel, whirl, zoom), прочиствам (evacuate, flush, open, purge, weed out), химикал за чистене на дрехи, лъсвам, лъскам (brighten, furbish, glance, gloss, grind, polish, satin, shine, smooth, varnish), ерозивно действие, жуля (chafe, scrub, sting, tingle), мия (bathe, clean, do, lave, lick, mop, wash, wash up), канал (aqueduct, canal, channel, cut, ditch, duct, gutter, mortise, passage, port, rabbet, race, sewer, trench, vas, vessel), корито (course, tray), търкам (chafe, furbish, rub, scrub), профучавам (flash, hurl, hurtle, roar by, spank, sweep, sweep by, sweep past, whoosh). (various references)

Chinese 

�"�洗 (scrub), �"� (scours, Sponged, Sponging). (various references)

Czech

vydrhnutí, vyèištìní, prolézt (comb through, scrape through), proèesat (comb through), drhnout (chafe, pumice, rub), cídit, èistit (clean, cleanse, depurate, fine down, groom, sweep). (various references)

Danish

underminering (pocket, pocket of a wound, undermining, undermining scouring, underwashing, wash out, washing away), udskylning (douching), erosion (erosion). (various references)

Dutch

uitspoeling (irrigation, washing), uitschuring (erosion, scouring, undermining), erosie (erosion). (various references)

Farsi 

پاک کردن (Absolve, Clean, Cleanse, Efface, Erase, Mop, Obliterate, Purge, Purify, Rub, Sancify, Scrape, Sublimate, Ventilate, Wash, Winnow, Wipe), پرداخت کردن (Buffer, Burnish, Disburse, Give, Spend), تکاپوکردن , تطهیرکردن (Cleanse, Exorcise, Expurgate, Purge, Sancify), زدودن (Clean, Efface, Obliterate, Purge, Remove, Scrape, Shuck, Swab, Sweep, Wipe), صیقلی کردن (Glass, Sleek, Urbanize, Varnish), صابون زدن (Lather, Soap), جستجوکردن (Attempt, Comb, Fish, Grub, Look, Mouse, Quest, Ransack, Search, Seek, Sick), شستن (Launder, Leach, Wash). (various references)

Finnish

vesieroosio (erosion), pohjan syöpyminen, pohjaeroosio (erosion), huuhtoutumiseroosio (erosion), eroosio (disintegration, erosion, weathering). (various references)

French

décaper (to scarify). (various references)

German

scheuern (chafe, jib, rub, rubbing, scrub), Kolk (deep, erosion, plunge pool, plunge pool action, pothole, scour basin, scour hole, undermining), ablaufen (be up, comb, drain away, drain off, dry off, execute, expire, go off, lapse, pass, pass off, run, run away, run out, rundown, unwind, walk off, walk over, wear down, wear out, wind down), absuchen (comb, pick clean, pick off, scan, search, sweep), auskolken, Auskolkung (plunge pool, plunge pool action, pothole, scour basin, scour hole, scouring), Auswaschung (cut-and-fill structure, dilution, erosion, leaching, lessivage, lixiviation, nip-out, pinch-out, scour-and-fill structure, wash out, washing-out, washout, wash-out), Bodenabtragung (erosion), durchsuchen (Frisk, go over, hunt, rummage, search, search through, shake down, to hunt, to search), abklappern (comb), Erosion (erosion), Unterwaschung (plunge pool, pothole, scour basin, undermining, undermining scouring, underwashing, wash out, washing away), Kolkloch (pothole, scour hole), Kolkung (erosion), Kolkvertiefung (scoured hole), umherstreifen (roam, roam about, straggle, to scour, to straggle, wander, wander around), Unterhöhlung (caving, sapping, undercutting), Unterschneidung (caving, sapping, undercutting), Unterspülung (caving, plunge pool, pothole, sapping, scour basin, undercutting, undermining, underwashing, wash out), Eintiefung (erosion). (various references)

Greek 

καθάρισμα (cleaning, clearance), καθαρίζω (absterge, clarify, clean, cleanse, clear, clear out, clear up, defecate, finish up, flux, furbish, net, peel, purge, purify, rarefy, scavenge, wash away), ξεπλένω (rinse, rinse out, swill, wash out), παστρεύω (clean), υποσκαφή (undercutting, undermining, washout), χτενίζω (comb), απάμμωση, τρίβων (rubber, rubbing), τρίβω (abrade, brush, chafe, fray, frazzle, grate, grind, massage, pound, powder, rub, scrub, triturate, wear), διατρέχω ζητών, ψάχνω παντού. (various references)

Hebrew 

למרוק (cleanse, polish, rub, scrub), למרק (polish), לצחצח (brush, furbish, polish, varnish), לסרוק (card, comb, lacerate, scan, scratch, search), חתר. (various references)

Hungarian

súrolás (scouring, scrub, scrubbing). (various references)

Indonesian

menggosok (embrocate, furbish, grind, incite, instigate, iron, polish, rub, shine), mengamplasi (sandpaper), gonyok (make clean, wipe), gahar (scrub). (various references)

Italian

smottamento stradale (undermining), sfregare (rub, scar, scratch), scavo a valle di un salto (plunge pool action), scavo (dig, digging, excavation, groundwork), scavare (cave, delve, dig, ditch, excavate, hollow, mine, pick, plough, plow, scoop out), scalzamento (caving, sapping, undercutting, undermining, underwashing, wash out), pulitura (cleaning, scrub), affossare (to cut a ditch, to dig a trench, to ditch), corrosione (corrosion), erosione (erosion), erosione locale (scouring), erosione localizzata (scouring), escavazione (excavation), fossa d'erosione (pothole, scour hole, scoured hole), affossamento (caving, dig in, plough in, pothole, sapping, scour hole, scouring, undercutting), perlustrare (comb, Hunt, reconnoiter, reconnoitre, search, sweep), vagare (divagate, ramble, range, roam, rove, stray, wander), raschiare (abrade, Gride, rake, rasp, scrape, scrapers, scratch), gorgo (Eddy, maelstrom, whirlpool). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

灰洗い (washing vegetables in lye). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

あくあらい (washing vegetables in lye). (various references)

Korean 

일소 (scours). (various references)

Manx

scooirey (catharsis, furbish, looseness, polish, purge, scrub), buinnagh yiarg, buinnagh (diarrhoea, dysentery). (various references)

Pig Latin

ourscay.(various references)

Portuguese

forma erosiva, corrente (backwash, cable, catena, circulation, course, criss-cross, current, fetter, floating, flow, flowing, fluent, flux, fresh, general, guy, prevailing, preventer, rife, river, ruling, running, runny, shackle, stream, tether, tide, tie, undercurrent), correnteza (drift, flow), desassoreamento por corrente de varrer, desengordurar, detergente (abstergent, lye), erosão (denudation, erosion, undercut), escavação por erosão (undermining), arear (polish, sand), expulsar (cast out, deport, disbar, dislodge, eject, eliminate, evict, expel, extrude, kick out, oust, out, proscribe, repel, scavenge, turn out), tirar (abstract, bag, deduct, disbud, doff, drag out, force, get, get off, haul, iron out, lay hold of, lug, pick, pick up, pilfer, pluck, pull off, pull out, put off, remove, rip, rub out, take, take away, take off, take out, tear off, vail, withdraw, wrest), fossa de erosão (scoured hole), infra-escavação (undermining), libertar de (rid), libertar-se de (jettison, outgrow, unload), limpar (bream, brush, clean, cleanse, delete, depurate, fettle, furbish, make clean, mop up, purify, rake, rub, rub down, rub out, scavenge, unstop, wash, wipe, wipe off, wipe out, wipe up), limpeza (cleanliness, cleanness, cleansing, cleanup, comb-out, mop-up, neatness, purity, rubdown, washing, wipe), polimento (burnish, glaze, glossiness, polish, rubbing, shine, shoeshine, varnish), polir (basil, brighten, furbish, glass, gloss, grind, lap, make smooth, planish, polish, refine, rub, scrape, sleek, smooth, spall, varnish), esfregar (fret, mop, rub, rub down, scrape, scrub). (various references)

Romanian

spãlare (lavation, wash), spãla parchetul, usturi, umbla peste tot, umbla (circulate, drive, go, go up, journey, leg it, pace, pad, ride, travel, walk, wander, work), parcurge (beat up, cover, cross, do, go through, navigate, pace, promenade, range, run, sail, travel through, traverse, walk), degresa (clean, degrease), cutreiera (canvass, range, roam, wander), curãţire (clearance, clearing), curãţa (brush, brush up, burnish, clean, cleanse, clear, demolish, do, dredge, dress, dust, furbish, Gill, grub, mop, mop up, pick, purge, purify, refine, rid, rinse, scavenge, scoop, scrub, skin, trim, wash, wipe), colinda (Carol, stride, stroll), alerga (career, chase, collide, course, elapse, flow, fly, go, go the pace, haste, hasten, hurry, race, run, rush, scamper, spank, urge, walk). (various references)

Russian 

разводить (breed, dilute), чистка (cleaning, purge, shake up, sweep), чистить (clean, peeling, pumice, purge), очищать очистка (purging, sanitize, scrubbing), прочесывать (comb), платинировать кожу. (various references)

Scottish

sgùr. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

sprati (flush, wash away, wash off), ribati (rub, scrub, slush), ribanje (ragging, rubbing, scrub), pretraživati (probe, search), pretraživanje (rummage, search), očistiti (clean, clean off, cleanse, clear, do away, expurgate, purge, scavenge, shine, swab). (various references)

Spanish

socavón (adit, scoured hole), socavación (plunge pool, plunge pool action, pothole, scour basin, undercutting, undermining, undermining scouring, underwashing, washing away, washout), fregar (mop, rub, scrub, swab, swob, wash, wash up), correr (blow, chase, draw, flow, gallop, go about, go around, go it, go round, hare, hie, hurry, lap, nip, pour, publish, race, run, run along, scud, scurry, scuttle, shoot, slide, stream, travel, zap), derrubiar, descalzamiento (plunge pool, plunge pool action, pothole, scour basin, unearthing), desengrasar (degrease), desgrasar (degrease), detergente (detergent), batir (beat, beat up, break, churn, drive, flap, hammer, leak, mill, pound, tear, tear up, throw over, tread, tread down, whip up, whir, whirr, whisk up), fregado (scouring, scrub, scrubbing, tiresome, washing up), limpiar (black, char, clean, clean down, clean out, clean up, cleanse, clear, clear out, debug, delete, do, dredge, dust, efface, Frank, knock off, live down, make clean, manicure, mop, mop up, police, polish, purge, rub up, scavenge, scrape, shine, swab, swob, tidy, tidy out, tidy up, turn out, wash, wipe, wipe down, wipe off, wipe out, wipe up), limpieza (ablution, clean up, cleaning, cleanliness, cleanness, comb out, dredge, facial, frankness, high tide, immaculacy, integrity, police, purity, scouring, shining, turnout), lugar derrubiado, purgar (clear, drain, purge, vent), restregar (scrub), revocar de (rescind), erosión (abrasion, deflation, erosion). (various references)

Swedish

skura (polish, scrub, swab), genomsöka (search through). (various references)

Turkish

ovmak (knead, massage, rub, rub down, scour away, scour off, scrub), ovarak temizlemek (rub off, scour away, scour off), koşuşturmak (bustle, bustle about, hustle, rush about, scour about, sprint), koşmak (career, clip, course, harness, jog, leg, leg it, run, rush, scamper, scamper about, scurry, shin, team, yoke), köşe bucak aramak, fırçalamak (brush, scrub, whisk), bol suyla yıkamak (sluice, swill, swill out), acele etmek (be in a hurry, buck up, come along, drive, get a move on, hasten, hie, hotfoot, hotfoot it, hurry, hurry up, hustle, make haste, put a jerk in it, rush, scour about, scurry, shake a leg, step on it, streak, trot). (various references)

Ukrainian

чистка (cleaning, clearance, purge, scrub), чистити (brighten, burnish, clean, clean down, cleanse, flay, furbish, scrub, stem), миття (bath, souse, wash, washing), бичувати (castigate, flagellate, scourge, whip), промивати (backwash, bathe, clean, douche, sluice, wash), драїти. (various references)

Vietnamese 

sự lau chùi. (various references)

Welsh

ysgwrio (lather, scrub). (various references)

ex-, peragrantes, peragratis, peragraturus, tergeo tergo tersi tersum. (various references)

excurare. (various references)

sweorfan. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "scour": scoured, scourer, scourers, scourge, scourged, scourger, scourgers, scourges, scourging, scouring, scourings, scours. (additional references)

Words ending with "scour": bescour. (additional references)

Words containing "scour": bescoured, bescouring, bescours, crosscourt, discourage, discourageable, discouraged, discouragement, discouragements, discourager, discouragers, discourages, discouraging, discouragingly, discourse, discoursed, discourser, discoursers, discourses, discoursing, discourteous, discourteously, discourteousness, discourteousnesses, discourtesies, discourtesy, offscouring, offscourings, undiscouraged. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Scour" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: acour, cour, escourt, Saccorum, saceur, sacor, scauf, Scaur, scer, Schou, Schuur, scoif, scoof, scoom, scor, Scorel, Scorey, scouf, scoul, scoun, scoup, scoure, scourl, scourn, scouw, scuer, scurr, scurt, scurz, sgoir, shour, skor, skour, soccur, socor, spour, sucour, suo. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: cors, crus, curs, orcs, ours, rocs, sour.

-2 letters: cor, cos, cur, orc, ors, our, roc, sou.

-3 letters: or, os, so, us.

+1 letter: cerous, chorus, clours, cornus, corpus, course, courts, crocus, croups, crouse, cruors, curios, cursor, durocs, mucors, mucros, occurs, scours, soucar, source, succor.

+2 letters: acerous, aurochs, bescour, carious, carolus, carouse, chouser, cirrous, citrous, closure, colours, colures, concurs, cormous, cougars, coursed, courser, courses, couters, croquis, croupes, crusado, cuprous, curiosa, curious, cursors, cursory, focuser, obscure, ochrous, oculars, oscular, raucous, recoups, refocus, rouches, sarcous, scoured, scourer, scourge, scouter, scrotum, scrouge, soucars, sourced, sources, succors, succory, succour, sucrose, surcoat, turacos, uncorks, uncross.