scouring


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Related to scouring: scouring velocity

scour 1

 (skour)
v. scoured, scour·ing, scours
v.tr.
1.
a. To clean, polish, or wash by scrubbing vigorously: scour a dirty oven.
b. To remove by scrubbing: scour grease from a pan.
2. To remove dirt or grease from (cloth or fibers) by means of a detergent.
3. To clean (wheat) before the milling process.
4. To clear (an area) by freeing of weeds or other vegetation.
5. To clear (a channel or pipe) by flushing.
v.intr.
1. To scrub something in order to clean or polish it.
2. To have diarrhea. Used of livestock.
n.
1. A scouring action or effect.
2. A place that has been scoured, as by flushing with water.
3. A cleansing agent for wool.
4. scours(used with a sing. or pl. verb) Diarrhea in livestock.

[Middle English scouren, from Middle Dutch scūren, from Old French escurer, from Late Latin excūrāre, to clean out : Latin ex-, ex-, Late Latin cūrāre, to clean (from Latin, to take care of, from cūra, care; see cure).]

scour′er n.

scour 2

 (skour)
v. scoured, scour·ing, scours
v.tr.
1. To search through or over thoroughly: The detective scoured the scene of the crime for clues.
2. To range over (an area) quickly and energetically.
v.intr.
1. To range over or about an area, especially in a search.
2. To move swiftly; scurry.

[Middle English scouren, to move swiftly, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skūr, shower.]

scour′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

scouring

(ˈskaʊərɪŋ)
n
1. the act of cleaning or polishing a surface by washing and rubbing, as with an abrasive cloth
2. the process of clearing a channel by the force of water
3. (Veterinary Science) an instance of causing livestock to purge their bowels
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.scouring - moving over territory to search for something; "scouring the entire area revealed nothing"
search, hunting, hunt - the activity of looking thoroughly in order to find something or someone
2.scouring - the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and waterscouring - the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water
cleaning, cleansing, cleanup - the act of making something clean; "he gave his shoes a good cleaning"
mopping, swabbing - cleaning with a mop; "he gave it a good mopping"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
He is gradually emerging from Tom-all-Alone's in the morning light, thinking about it, when he hears running feet behind him, and looking round, sees the boy scouring towards him at great speed, followed by the woman.
But Commander Farragut would not lose a day nor an hour in scouring the seas in which the animal had been sighted.
He begun its inspection without delay, scouring it from cellar to garret.
In the course of these, they came upon immense herds of buffalo, which kept scouring off in the van, like a retreating army.
The former, continually on horseback scouring the plains, gaining their food by hardy exercise, and subsisting chiefly on flesh, are generally tall, sinewy, meagre, but well formed, and of bold and fierce deportment: the latter, lounging about the river banks, or squatting and curved up in their canoes, are generally low in stature, ill-shaped, with crooked legs, thick ankles, and broad flat feet.
Most of the gilding was worn off by the frequent scourings which it had undergone beneath the hands of a black slave.
Yesterday, RNLI and coastguard teams began scouring the coastline between Tarlair and Whitehills for the 53-yearold, but were stood down after she was spotted on CCTV elsewhere.
Frogmen from the Special Operations Group and a medical team have been scouring the area since around 1 p.m.
In the old days, people used horsetails for scouring metal pots and pans kind of the precursor to Brillo pads back in the day.
The temporal variation of scour depth in front of a bridge pier was measured periodically using the ADV temporarily positioned for a moment above the point of scouring. Each experiment was ended when the local scour depth reached the equilibrium state at which there are negligible changes in bed elevation with time as guided in literatures [9, 13], but it was never less than 48 hours.
Mayor Anderson said: "We will now help the police by scouring CCTV in the area and would urge any members of the public with any information about this man to come forward straight away because he needs to be apprehended as fast as possible."
Preparation: Pre-washing of grey and yarn-dyed fabrics,desizing and scouring for woven and knitted fabrics.