SCOUR | Meaning In The Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of scour in English scourverb uk /skaʊər/ us /ˈskaʊ.ɚ/

scour verb (CLEAN)

Add to word list Add to word list [ T ] (also scour out) to remove dirt from something by rubbing it hard with something rough: You'll have to scour out those old cooking pots before you use them. Cleaning generally

• brush someone/something off phrasal verb
• cleaner
• cleaning
• cleanse
• cleansing
• groom
• hoovering
• mop
• pick
• pick someone/something up phrasal verb
• purification
• rinse
• scrub
• sponge
• squeegee
• steam-clean
• sterilizing
• sweep
• swill
• wash something down phrasal verb

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scour verb (SEARCH)

[ T ] to search a place or thing very carefully in order to try to find something: The police are scouring the area for the missing child. I scoured the shops for a blue and white shirt, but I couldn't find one anywhere. to search for something

• searchI've searched everywhere and can't find my passport.
• lookShe was looking in her handbag for a pen.
• huntI've hunted all over the place but I can't find that book.
• rummageHe rummaged through his pockets, looking for his keys.
• ferret outThe inspector general has broad powers to ferret out fraud on the state and local level.
• combPolice combed the area for evidence.

See more results » Searching

• beachcomb
• beachcomber
• beachcombing
• body search
• bounty hunter
• comb
• house-hunting
• hunt
• hunt someone/something down phrasal verb
• hunter
• hunting ground
• lookout
• needle
• rake
• scratch around for something phrasal verb
• scrounge around phrasal verb
• search
• seek someone/something out phrasal verb
• seeker
• troll

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scour verb (ANIMAL ILLNESS)

[ I ] (of farm animals, especially cows and pigs) to have diarrhoea: Several calves were scouring and one died within days. Zoology: veterinary medicine

• acaricide
• altered
• animal doctor
• anti-rabies
• bovine spongiform encephalopathy
• BSE
• castrate
• cowpox
• emasculate
• lame
• mange
• mangy
• monkeypox
• mpox
• neutered
• nosema
• put something/someone down phrasal verb
• scrapie
• veterinarian
• worm

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Phrasal verb

scour something out scournoun uk /skaʊər/ us /ˈskaʊ.ɚ/

scour noun (CLEANING)

[ S ] an act of removing dirt from something by rubbing it hard with something rough: A quick scour with salt and an old toothbrush is a simple way to freshen up stained cups.

• Pull out the detergent drawer and give it a good scour.
• Give the metal a scour with a stiff wire brush.

Cleaning generally

• brush someone/something off phrasal verb
• cleaner
• cleaning
• cleanse
• cleansing
• groom
• hoovering
• mop
• pick
• pick someone/something up phrasal verb
• purification
• rinse
• scrub
• sponge
• squeegee
• steam-clean
• sterilizing
• sweep
• swill
• wash something down phrasal verb

See more results »

scour noun (SEARCH)

[ S ] a search: We need as many volunteers as possible for a scour of the beach to pick up everything that shouldn't be there. A scour of the recent headlines could be a little concerning for shareholders.

• UK We’ve had a scour around for some kit to help you stay warm and dry.
• A quick scour of the internet reveals tons of behind-the-scenes snapshots.
• Have a scour around Tomato Town to track down the treasure map.

Searching

• beachcomb
• beachcomber
• beachcombing
• body search
• bounty hunter
• comb
• house-hunting
• hunt
• hunt someone/something down phrasal verb
• hunter
• hunting ground
• lookout
• needle
• rake
• scratch around for something phrasal verb
• scrounge around phrasal verb
• search
• seek someone/something out phrasal verb
• seeker
• troll

See more results »

scour noun (GEOLOGY)

[ U ]   geology   specialized a process in which the continuous movement of water gradually forms a hole in the sediments (= sand, stones, etc.) in a river, etc., or the sediments themselves: Huge scour marks in the bed of the Channel could have been created only by a giant torrent of water. Another $20 million will be spent to replace the scour, or riverbed material, just downriver from the dam. Geology: types of rock

• agglomerate
• arenaceous
• arenite
• asthenosphere
• asthenospheric
• emery
• flinty
• gneiss
• indurated
• intrusive
• lahar
• limestone
• lodestone
• magma
• marcasite
• marl
• marmoreal
• obsidian
• sandstone
• schist

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scour noun (ANIMAL ILLNESS)

[ U ] (also scours) diarrhoea in farm animals, especially cows and pigs: Scour in young calves is caused mainly by parasites and viruses. Of the three animals, one had died of scours and several others appeared ill. Zoology: veterinary medicine

• acaricide
• altered
• animal doctor
• anti-rabies
• bovine spongiform encephalopathy
• BSE
• castrate
• cowpox
• emasculate
• lame
• mange
• mangy
• monkeypox
• mpox
• neutered
• nosema
• put something/someone down phrasal verb
• scrapie
• veterinarian
• worm

See more results » (Definition of scour from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

scour | American Dictionary

scourverb [ T ] us /skɑʊər/

scour verb [T] (CLEAN)

Add to word list Add to word list to clean something by rubbing it hard with rough cleaning material: We scoured the pots and pans with pads of steel wool.

scour verb [T] (SEARCH)

to search a place or thing very carefully: Police are scouring the countryside for the missing child. (Definition of scour from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of scour

scour I learned about their back-breaking work scouring the countryside for wood to warm the water and, finally, how impossible it was to find clean water. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 By the middle of 1965 stocks were very low and the cement makers were scouring the world for imports at high prices. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Two of the legs began to wobble, and that again caused more scouring of the sand until eventually, having dislodged 6 ft. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 The world is increasingly being scoured for large deposits of good quality ore which are near the seaboard. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I imagine it is those in which soap has to be used in scouring wool yarn. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Imports have been encouraged and the world has been scoured for goods. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Our leading stores are scouring the world for high quality textiles because they are not avail able at home. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 If you scoured the whole county you would not have got a better zoologist and geologist than those two men. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 As an export company, we scoured the world for work and had teams working with local people all over the world. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I am keen to see an increase in the use of the private finance initiative for the scouring of public projects. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 I suspect that there was some scouring of past texts to come up with that formula. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Groups of people are scouring the country conducting interviews so that they can sell estates when the legislation is passed. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 No single system is likely to meet the requirements of all scouring companies. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 Many of us have scoured all sources to find such a case, but without success. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 They are spending their time scouring the class size list for one statistic that is not moving in the right direction. From the Hansard archive Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0 See all examples of scour These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. What is the pronunciation of scour?

Translations of scour

in Chinese (Traditional) 清除, 擦，擦淨, 刷，刷掉… See more in Chinese (Simplified) 清除, 擦，擦净, 刷，刷掉… See more in Spanish fregar, restregar, registrar… See more in Portuguese esfregar, vasculhar, escovar… See more in Turkish in French in Japanese in Dutch in Czech in Danish in Indonesian in Thai in Vietnamese in Polish in Swedish in Malay in German in Norwegian in Ukrainian in Russian karış karış aramak, didik didik etmek, arayıp taramak… See more récurer, fouiller… See more ごしごし洗（あら）う, 調（しら）べる… See more schuren, afzoeken… See more (vy)cídit, prohledat… See more skure, gennemsøge… See more menggosok, merambah… See more ขัดถูให้สะอาด, ค้นหาสิ่งของหรือคนบริเวณนั้นให้ละเอียด… See more cọ chùi, lùng sục… See more przetrząsać, przeszukiwać, szorować… See more skura, skrubba, söka igenom… See more menyental, menggeledah… See more scheuern, absuchen… See more skrubbe, lete gjennom, finkjemme… See more чистити, нишпорити, шастати… See more тщательно искать, прочесывать, чистить… See more Need a translator?

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Scottish Fold Scottish National Party Scottish terrier scoundrel scour scour something out phrasal verb scoured scourge scourged Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

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A-frame

UK /ˈeɪ.freɪm/ US /ˈeɪ.freɪm/

a simple house shaped like an A, with two of its four walls sloping and meeting at the top to act as a roof

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• English   
  • Verb 
    • scour (CLEAN)
    • scour (SEARCH)
    • scour (ANIMAL ILLNESS)
  • Noun 
    • scour (CLEANING)
    • scour (SEARCH)
    • scour (GEOLOGY)
    • scour (ANIMAL ILLNESS)
• American   
  • Verb 
    • scour (CLEAN)
    • scour (SEARCH)
• Examples

• Translations
• Grammar
• All translations

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