as in searched
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
as in scraped
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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 scoured
Ellen Walker, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Staff at the liberal arts college scoured all campus facilities as well, Baucom said.
—Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
Fans who once scoured online forums or social media to find clips of their favorite niche sport can now watch entire matches in real time.
—Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Police scoured Printers Alley looking for a knife even though Skull died from blunt force trauma.
—Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Kevin said police scoured the area with canines, helicopters and drones.
—Kyani Reid, NBC news, 14 Oct. 2025
The death toll rose as thousands of soldiers scoured the destruction left in the wake of the receding waters, clearing roads blocked with trees and cars to rescue the missing.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025
In choosing the contestants, Ramsay scoured the country for the best home, pro and social media bakers, from different backgrounds and levels of expertise, according to Fox.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Officers scoured South Mountain for the lost woman, body camera footage shared by the department shows.
—Daniella Segura, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Verb
Recalling the English folk motif of the tree as possessing healing powers, a clump of soil dug up from an orchard in Lothlórien is used to replenish the scoured Shire.
—Ellen Walker, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
During the nighttime low-tide surveys, researchers scoured the various pools and found a brightly colored sea slug, the study said.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2025
Staff at the liberal arts college scoured all campus facilities as well, Baucom said.
—Joshua Rhett Miller, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
Fans who once scoured online forums or social media to find clips of their favorite niche sport can now watch entire matches in real time.
—Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
Police scoured Printers Alley looking for a knife even though Skull died from blunt force trauma.
—Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Kevin said police scoured the area with canines, helicopters and drones.
—Kyani Reid, NBC news, 14 Oct. 2025
The death toll rose as thousands of soldiers scoured the destruction left in the wake of the receding waters, clearing roads blocked with trees and cars to rescue the missing.
—Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025
In choosing the contestants, Ramsay scoured the country for the best home, pro and social media bakers, from different backgrounds and levels of expertise, according to Fox.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Officers scoured South Mountain for the lost woman, body camera footage shared by the department shows.
—Daniella Segura, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scoured
Verb
-
All three were detained in the country's capital Tbilisi, and temporary residences in the city and Batumi, in western Georgia, were searched by authorities.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
While deputies searched the shelter, a man fell through the ceiling and was immediately detained, Enriquez said.—
Perry Vandell,
AZCentral.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
White Flame was founded over a decade ago to explore for oil and gas in Greenland.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Two decades after co-founding the Dodos with drummer Logan Kroeber, singer and guitarist Meric Long will release his first solo album under his own name.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But ground teams detected the helium leak in Starliner's service module in the aftermath of the scrubbed countdown.—
Stephen Clark,
Ars Technica,
25 May 2024
-
There were no young girls floating by in elegant dresses, no scrubbed and spoiled children dressed in their finery and dragged toward churches and pagodas, no whisper of music drifting out of windows.—
Chantha Nguon,
Condé Nast Traveler,
20 Feb. 2024
Verb
-
Hundreds of volunteers combed fields and streets, posting fliers and canvassing neighborhoods, their eyes peeled for any sign of the small blonde girl.—
Dakin Andone,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
-
As part of those investigations, his team combed through thousands of terabytes of abhorrent pictures.—
Charlotte Alter,
Time,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scoured.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scoured. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share