scud
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To race along swiftly.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
skuhdIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈskʌd
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
intransitive
To race along swiftly (especially used of clouds).
ambitransitivenautical
Run before a gale
ambitransitivenautical
To run, or be driven, before a high wind with few or no sails set.
To scrape (skins) to remove hair etc. as part of the tanning process.
noun
Clouds or rain(s) (or snow, etc) driven by the wind.
The act of scudding.
uncountable
A loose formation of small ragged cloud fragments (or fog) not attached to a larger higher cloud layer.
A gust of wind.
The act of moving along swiftly (as before a gale)
A small flight of larks, or other birds, less than a flock.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To race along swiftly (especially used of clouds).
Used this way, scud 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
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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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.