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, 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
diarrhœa.
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, n. Diarrhœa or
dysentery among cattle.
Scour (skour), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Scoured (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Scouring.] [Akin to LG. schüren, 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, 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.