scour
verb /ˈskaʊə(r)/
/ˈskaʊər/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they scour | /ˈskaʊə(r)/ /ˈskaʊər/ |
| he / she / it scours | /ˈskaʊəz/ /ˈskaʊərz/ |
| past simple scoured | /ˈskaʊəd/ /ˈskaʊərd/ |
| past participle scoured | /ˈskaʊəd/ /ˈskaʊərd/ |
| -ing form scouring | /ˈskaʊərɪŋ/ /ˈskaʊərɪŋ/ |
- to search a place or thing carefully and completely in order to find somebody/something synonym comb
- scour something for somebody/something We scoured the area for somewhere to pitch our tent.
- scour something He had been scouring the papers for weeks, looking for a job.
- scour something (out) to clean something by rubbing its surface hard with rough material
- I had to scour out the pans.
- to make a passage, hole, or mark in the ground, rocks, etc. as the result of movement, especially over a long period
- scour something out The water had raced down the slope and scoured out the bed of a stream.
- scour something away The rush of water had scoured away the topsoil.
- scour something We could see where the cartwheels had scoured the ground.
- The water flow has scoured deep pools underneath the trees.
Word Originsenses 2 to 3 Middle English: from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schūren, from Old French escurer, from late Latin excurare ‘clean (off)’, from ex- ‘away’ + curare ‘to clean’.sense 1 late Middle English: related to obsolete scour ‘moving hastily’, of unknown origin.