as in to search
to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something
the police scoured the city for the Typhoid Mary of this latest epidemic
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scour
This year, skip the standard flowers and scour eBay or take a trip to an antiques market for one-of-a-kind vintage gifts for mom that offer craftsmanship and history.
—
Nicole Anderson, Architectural Digest, 1 May 2026
Meanwhile, his fan club spread out in a suite perched behind the visiting on-deck circle, where friends, mentors and family members scoured his every twitch.
—Zack Meisel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2026
Officials said the multi-agency probe into Valente's motivations involved scouring more than 11,000 surveillance files, analyzing over 2,100 audio and video files from his personal devices, and conducting upward of 260 interviews.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
When run, the malicious package scoured systems for sensitive data, including user profiles, warehouse credentials, cloud provider keys, API tokens, and SSH keys, developers said.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scour
Nicole Anderson, Architectural Digest, 1 May 2026
Meanwhile, his fan club spread out in a suite perched behind the visiting on-deck circle, where friends, mentors and family members scoured his every twitch.
—Zack Meisel, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2026
Officials said the multi-agency probe into Valente's motivations involved scouring more than 11,000 surveillance files, analyzing over 2,100 audio and video files from his personal devices, and conducting upward of 260 interviews.
—Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
When run, the malicious package scoured systems for sensitive data, including user profiles, warehouse credentials, cloud provider keys, API tokens, and SSH keys, developers said.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for scour
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scour
Verb
-
Deputies searched the beach and found blood, two pairs of shoes, a Glock handgun and shell casings, according to an arrest affidavit police provided to the Daily News.—
Theresa Braine,
New York Daily News,
7 May 2026
-
Navigate the map to a specific address or intersection by searching for it in the search box at the bottom of the map.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
6 May 2026
Verb
-
Reyes asked that if any such signs were found that the government’s attorney be told.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 May 2026
-
The sellout Garden arena gave a standing ovation as the ball found Josh Hart, who missed a wide-open corner three.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
5 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scour.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scour. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
