Synonyms of scouring

scouring

verb

present participle of scour

as in searching

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

• searching
• combing
• finding
• scanning
• surveying
• exploring
• locating
• raking
• rummaging
• examining
• investigating
• trolling
• dredging
• ransacking
• inspecting
• digging (through)
• hunting (through)
• sorting (through)
• discovering
• reviewing
• rifling
• scrutinizing
• detecting
• ascertaining
• determining
• learning
• auditing
• studying
• perusing
• probing
• checking (out)
• browsing
• tracking (down)
• hitting (on or upon)
• prospecting
• snooping
• frisking
• finding out
• getting
• running down
• poking (around)
• ferreting (out)
• shaking down
• looking over
• patting down
• glancing (over)
• descrying
• skirmishing
• grubbing (about)
• scaring up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hiding
• losing
• ignoring
• abandoning
• neglecting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of scouring

The company was born when a blacksmith named John Deere invented an early self-scouring steel plow adapted especially for the Midwest’s dense, clay-heavy soil. —Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2026

But he was especially demoralized the other day after scouring for bargains at the sprawling Coche Market, which serves a mostly working-class clientele on the southern fringes of this chaotic capital. —Mery Mogollon, Los Angeles Times, 30 Jan. 2026

My favorite tale involves the commissioner, who spotted a teenager at an Internet café in Thimphu, Bhutan scouring the computer screen for all things Kobe Bryant. —Scott Soshnick, Sportico.com, 20 Jan. 2026

Raymond and her partner are one of a handful of teams scouring Sacramento waste piles. —Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 19 Jan. 2026