scour

Meanings

Verb

• To clean, polish, or wash something by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
• To remove debris and dirt by purging; to sweep along or off (by a current of water).
• To clear the digestive tract by administering medication that induces defecation or vomiting; to purge.
• To (cause livestock to) suffer from diarrhoea or dysentery.
• To cleanse (without rubbing).
• To search an area thoroughly.
• To run with speed; to scurry.
• To move swiftly over; to brush along.

Noun

• The removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.
• A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a waterfall.
• A place where wool is washed to remove grease and impurities prior to processing.

Origin

• From Middle English scouren ("to polish, scour; to clean; to beat, whip"), from Middle Dutch scuren, schuren or Middle Low German schǖren, of uncertain origin but probably from Old French escurer, from Medieval Latin scūrō, escūrō, excūrō, from ex- + cūrō, from cūra (from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ("to heed")) + -ō.
• The word is cognate with Danish skure, Middle High German schüren, schiuren (modern German scheuern ("to scour, scrub; to chafe")), Norwegian skura ("to scrub"), Swedish skura.
• From Middle English scouren, scure, skoure, from scour, from Old Norse skýra ("to rush in") and skúr, perhaps influenced by the verb scǒuren: see etymology 1.