scour
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To clean, polish, or wash by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, often with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skowerSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskaʊɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
Clean with hard rubbing
transitive
To remove debris and dirt (from something) by purging; to sweep along or off by a current of water.
transitive
To search an area thoroughly.
transitive
To move swiftly over; to brush along.
intransitive
To run with speed; to scurry.
noun
A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a waterfall.
The removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.
A place where wool is washed to remove grease and impurities prior to processing.
Diarrhoea, in livestock; scouring.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
Used this way, scour is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- abrade , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use scour
- “The police scoured the country for the fugitive.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Moving over territory to search for something.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A small abrasive cleaning pad used for scouring pots and pans.
Evergreen erect horsetail with rough-edged stems.
Northern North America.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to clean or polish
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.