Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Scour?

\Scour\, v. t. To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush. If my neighbor ought to scour a ditch. --Blackstone.
\Scour\, n. 1. The act of scouring. 2. A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a fall. If you catch the two sole denizens [trout] of a particular scour, you will find another pair installed in their place to-morrow. --Grant Allen.
\Scour\ (skour), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scoured}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Scouring}.] [Akin to LG. sch["u]ren, D. schuren, schueren, G. scheuern, Dan. skure; Sw. skura; all possibly fr. LL. escurare, fr. L. ex + curare to take care. Cf. {Cure}.] 1. To rub hard with something rough, as sand or Bristol brick, especially for the purpose of cleaning; to clean by friction; to make clean or bright; to cleanse from grease, dirt, etc., as articles of dress. 2. To purge; as, to scour a horse. 3. To remove by rubbing or cleansing; to sweep along or off; to carry away or remove, as by a current of water; -- often with off or away. [I will] stain my favors in a bloody mask, Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. --Shak. 4. [Perhaps a different word; cf. OF. escorre, escourre, It. scorrere, both fr. L. excurrere to run forth. Cf. {Excursion}.] To pass swiftly over; to brush along; to traverse or search thoroughly; as, to scour the coast. Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain. --Pope. {Scouring barrel}, a tumbling barrel. See under {Tumbling}. {Scouring cinder} (Metal.), a basic slag, which attacks the lining of a shaft furnace. --Raymond. {Scouring rush}. (Bot.) See {Dutch rush}, under {Dutch}. {Scouring stock} (Woolen Manuf.), a kind of fulling mill.
\Scour\, v. i. 1. To clean anything by rubbing. --Shak. 2. To cleanse anything. Warm water is softer than cold, for it scoureth better. --Bacon. 3. To be purged freely; to have a diarrh[oe]a. 4. To run swiftly; to rove or range in pursuit or search of something; to scamper. So four fierce coursers, starting to the race, Scour through the plain, and lengthen every pace. --Dryden.
\Scour\, n. Diarrh[oe]a or dysentery among cattle.