Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Scour \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 \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 \Scour\, n.
Diarrh[oe]a or dysentery among cattle.
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 \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.
Source : WordNet®
scour
v 1: examine minutely; "The police scoured the country for the
fugitive"
2: clean with hard rubbing; "She scrubbed his back" [syn: {scrub}]
3: rub hard or scrub; "scour the counter tops" [syn: {abrade}]
4: rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid; "flush the wound with
antibiotics"; "purge the old gas tank" [syn: {flush}, {purge}]
scour
n : a place that is scoured (especially by running water)