scour

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.

Scour (?), v. t. To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush.

If my neighbor ought to scour a ditch.

Scour , n. Diarrhœa or dysentery among cattle.

Scour , v. i. 1. To clean anything by rubbing. Shak.

2. To cleanse anything.

Warm water is softer than cold, for it scoureth better.

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.

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.

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.

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.