scour

1 of 3

verb (1)

ˈskau̇(-ə)r 

scoured; scouring; scours

transitive verb

1

a

: to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing

b

: to remove by rubbing hard and washing

2

archaic : to clear (a region) of enemies or outlaws

3

: to clean by purging : purge

4

: to remove dirt and debris from (something, such as a pipe or ditch)

5

: to free from foreign matter or impurities by or as if by washing

scour wool

6

: to clear, dig, or remove by or as if by a powerful current of water

intransitive verb

1

: to perform a process of scouring

2

: to suffer from diarrhea or dysentery

3

: to become clean and bright by rubbing

scourer noun

scour

2 of 3

noun

1

: a place scoured by running water

2

: scouring action (as of a glacier)

3

: diarrhea, dysentery

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

4

: scouring sense 1

also : damage done by scouring action

scour

3 of 3

verb (2)

scoured; scouring; scours

intransitive verb

: to move about quickly especially in search

transitive verb

: to go through or range over in or as if in a search

Did you know?

It doesn’t require much scouring of our website to see that there are two distinct scour verbs in English. One has meanings relating to cleaning and washing away; that scour, which dates back to at least the early 14th century, probably comes from the Late Latin excurare, meaning “to clean off.” (A related noun scour refers to the action of this type of scouring, or to places that have been scoured, as by running water.) The other verb scour appeared a century earlier, and may come from the Old Norse skūr, meaning “shower.” (Skūr is also distantly related to the Old English scūr, the ancestor of our English word shower.) Many different things can be scoured, such as an area (as in “scoured the woods in search of the lost dog”) or publications (as in “scouring magazine and newspaper articles”).

Synonyms

Verb (2)

• comb
• dig (through)
• dredge
• hunt (through)
• rake
• ransack
• rifle
• rummage
• search
• sort (through)
• troll

Examples of scour in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Police scoured the area, eventually locating a magazine for a Glock pistol inside the home. —Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 1 Apr. 2024

That's back when famed plant explorers made of pig iron and buckshot were scouring the globe for new plants to diversify our gardens. —Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 5 Apr. 2024

Her team scoured the Internet for stories, and sent out word through friends and relatives. —Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2024

Working for the Culture Ministry, Gordon and his team have been scouring the sanctuaries and neighboring villages for evidence that hundreds of antiquities now on display in U.S. museums had left the country illegally. —Stephanie Yang, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024

This includes scouring through brand websites, as well as forums like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit. —Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024

This land was stripped of its dense vegetation by miners scouring the subsoil for tiny specks of gold, using mercury to separate the gold from the sediment. —Simeon Tegel, NPR, 2 Apr. 2024

Scientific divers off the coast of Sicily were scouring the rocky sea floor when a large, rounded object stood out from the other stones. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2024

In an attempt to document the species of fish changing hands, a group of American researchers scoured the markets for previously undiscovered species. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 25 Mar. 2024

Noun

Rinse the potatoes under running water, scrubbing with a clean scour pad or produce brush to remove any dirt or debris. —Zoe Denenberg, Bon Appétit, 17 Oct. 2023

Stick to the gentler blue scour pads, or the scrubby side of your sponge, or a Scrub Daddy/Mommy. —Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 16 Nov. 2020

But the trace fossils—scrapes and scours in the rock—reveal the shape and behavior of animals that lived millions of years before the dinosaurs. —Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2023

Again, when the cold air scours out of the region is key to determining what type of precipitation Portland will see. —oregonlive, 24 Feb. 2023

Initially the city’s lakefront included a gravel parking lot, large stones and rip rap — stones and materials intentionally placed to help protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave or ice erosion. —Carrie Napoleon, chicagotribune.com, 4 June 2021

Stick to the gentler blue scour pads, the scrubby side of your sponge, or a Scrub Daddy/Mommy. —Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 10 Feb. 2023

This complicated system is meant to prevent scour (erosion) of the landscape and flooding that can endanger homes. —Justin Wm. Moyer, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2022

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English, probably from Middle Dutch schuren, from Old French escurer, from Late Latin excurare to clean off, from Latin, to take good care of, from ex- + curare to care for, from cura care

Verb (2)

Middle English scuren, skouren, probably from scour, noun, (in phrase god scour quickly), perhaps from Old Norse skūr shower; akin to Old English scūr shower — more at shower

First Known Use

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

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Kids Definition

scour

1 of 3 verb

ˈskau̇(ə)r 

1

: to move about or through quickly especially in search

scoured the woods for the missing child

2

: to examine thoroughly and rapidly

scoured the legal documents

scour

2 of 3 verb

1

a

: to rub hard with something rough in order to clean

b

: to remove by rubbing hard and washing

scour spots from the stove

2

: to free from foreign substances or impurities by or as if by washing

3

: to wear away (as by water) : erode

a stream scouring its banks

scourer noun

scour

3 of 3 noun

: an action or result of scouring

Medical Definition

scour

1 of 2 intransitive verb

ˈskau̇(ə)r 

of a domestic animal

: to suffer from diarrhea or dysentery

a diet causing cattle to scour

scour

2 of 2 noun

: diarrhea or dysentery occurring especially in young domestic animals

—usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction