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Another word for scour

a-z
Verb

  1. To rub hard in order to clean

      1. To rub hard in order to clean:
      2. To remove (dirt or stains) by hard rubbing.
      3. To remove impurities from (a gas) chemically.
    See also:

    put-on

    clean

  2. To remove (an outer layer or adherent matter) by rubbing a surface with considerable pressure

      1. To rub hard in order to clean:
      2. To remove (dirt or stains) by hard rubbing.
      3. To remove impurities from (a gas) chemically.
      1. To remove (an outer layer, for example) from a surface by forceful strokes of an edged or rough instrument:
      2. To abrade or smooth by rubbing with a sharp or rough instrument.
      3. To rub (a surface) with considerable pressure, as with an edged instrument or a hard object.
    See also:

    put-on

  3. To make a thorough search of

      1. To cause something to fall by shaking it, or something it is attached down.
      2. To shake someone so money falls from their pockets.
      3. (by extension) To get money from someone using threats.
      1. To search thoroughly by handling, turning over, or disarranging the contents of.
      2. To discover by searching thoroughly.
      3. To make an energetic, usually hasty search.
      1. To search through (something) thoroughly and often roughly:
      2. To go through (a place) stealing valuables and causing disarray; pillage:
      1. Plant material that livestock graze or that is cut and fed to them.
      2. The act of looking or searching for food or provisions.
      3. To wander in search of food or provisions.
      1. A thin toothed strip, as of plastic, used to smooth, arrange, or fasten the hair.
      2. An implement, such as one for dressing and cleansing wool or other fiber, that resembles a hair comb in shape or use.
      3. A currycomb.
    Idioms:
    See also:

    investigate

  4. To move swiftly

      1. To seize and pinch or bite:
      2. To remove or sever by pinching or snipping:
      3. To bite or sting with the cold; chill.
      1. A cocktail served in a tall glass and consisting of liquor, such as whiskey, mixed with water or a carbonated beverage.
      2. A railroad signal indicating full speed ahead.
      3. A high-speed train.
      1. A large cylindrical container, usually made of staves bound together with hoops, with a flat top and bottom of equal diameter.
      2. The quantity that a barrel with a given or standard capacity will hold.
      3. Any of various units of volume or capacity. In the US Customary System it varies, as a liquid measure, from 31 to 42 gallons (117 to 159 liters) as established by law or usage.
      1. To cut, tear apart, or tear away roughly or energetically.
      2. To cause to be pulled apart, as by an accident:
      3. To split or saw (wood) along the grain.
      1. To go in haste. Often used with it :
      2. In haste.
      3. The practical joke of lighting a match that has been secretly inserted between the sole and upper of a victim's shoe.
      1. To make a continuous low-pitched buzzing or humming sound:
      2. To move while making such a sound:
      3. To move rapidly:
      1. A brief sharp hissing sound.
      2. Energy; vim:
      3. A zipper.
      1. One of a pair of movable appendages used for flying, as the feather-covered modified forelimb of a bird or the skin-covered modified forelimb of a bat or pterosaur.
      2. One of the one or two pairs of membranous structures used for flying that extend from the thorax of an insect.
      3. A structure or part used by an animal for gliding through the air, as the folds of skin of a flying squirrel or the enlarged pectoral fins of a flying fish.
      1. To make a whirring or hissing sound, as of an object speeding through air.
      2. To move or do something quickly:
      3. To pass quickly:
      1. To move or cause to move with quick light sweeping motions:
      2. To whip (eggs or cream).
      3. To move lightly, nimbly, and rapidly.
      1. To rotate rapidly about a center or an axis; spin.
      2. To move while rotating or turning about:
      3. To turn rapidly, changing direction; wheel:
      1. The gait of a horse or other four-footed animal, between a walk and a canter in speed, in which diagonal pairs of legs move forward together.
      2. A ride on a horse moving with this gait.
      3. A gait of a person, faster than a walk; a jog.
      1. To pull apart or into pieces by force; rend.
      2. To cause to be pulled apart unintentionally, as by accident:
      3. To lacerate (the skin, for example).
      1. The act or an instance of sprinting, especially a short race at top speed.
      2. A burst of speed or activity.
      3. To move rapidly or at top speed for a brief period, as in running or swimming.
      1. Distance traveled divided by the time of travel.
      2. The limit of this quotient as the time of travel becomes vanishingly small; the first derivative of distance with respect to time.
      3. The magnitude of a velocity.
      1. To hit, wound, or kill with a missile fired from a weapon.
      2. To remove or destroy by firing or projecting a missile:
      3. To make (a hole, for example) by firing a weapon.
      1. To move or go suddenly and speedily; hurry.
      2. To squirt with water:
      1. A piece of fabric sewn together and fitted to the spars and rigging of a vessel so as to convert the force of the wind into forward motion of the vessel.
      2. The sails of a ship or boat.
      3. A narrow fairwater supporting the bridge of a submarine.
      1. To move swiftly; hurry:
      2. To act with great haste:
      3. To make a sudden or swift attack or charge:
      1. To move swiftly on foot so that both or all feet are not on the ground during each stride.
      2. To retreat rapidly; flee:
      3. To depart; leave:
      1. A rocket engine.
      2. A vehicle or device propelled by one or more rocket engines, especially such a vehicle designed to travel through space.
      3. A projectile weapon carrying a warhead that is powered and propelled by rockets.
      1. A group of people identified as distinct from other groups because of supposed physical or genetic traits shared by the group. Most biologists and anthropologists do not recognize race as a biologically valid classification, in part because there is more genetic variation within groups than between them.
      2. A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution:
      3. A genealogical line; a lineage.
      1. The skin of an animal with the fur or hair still on it.
      2. A stripped animal skin ready for tanning.
      1. To move or act energetically and rapidly:
      2. To push or force one's way.
      3. To act aggressively, especially in business dealings.
      1. To move or act with speed or haste.
      2. To cause to move or act with speed or haste:
      3. To cause to move or act with undue haste; rush:
      1. To move or act swiftly.
      2. To cause to move or act swiftly:
      3. To cause to happen sooner than otherwise would be the case:
      1. Rapidity of action or motion:
      2. Rash or headlong action; precipitateness:
      3. To hasten or cause to hasten.
      1. To move through the air by means of wings or winglike parts.
      2. To travel by air:
      3. To operate an aircraft or spacecraft.
      1. To move about rapidly and nimbly.
      2. To move quickly from one condition or location to another.
      3. A fluttering or darting movement.
      1. A number of warships operating together under one command.
      2. A group of vessels or vehicles, such as taxicabs or fishing boats, owned or operated as a unit.
      1. To burst forth into or as if into flame.
      2. To give off light or be lighted in sudden or intermittent bursts.
      3. To appear or occur suddenly:
      1. To move with haste; rush:
      2. To strike violently; smash:
      3. To break or smash by striking violently:
      1. A slender, pointed missile, often having tail fins, thrown by hand, shot from a blowgun, or expelled by an exploding bomb.
      2. A game in which such missiles are thrown at a target.
      3. An object likened to such a missile.
      1. To move or cause to move energetically and busily.
      2. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir.
      1. A cylindrical vessel used for holding or carrying liquids or solids; a pail.
      2. The amount that a bucket can hold:
      3. A unit of dry measure in the US Customary System equal to 2 pecks (17.6 liters).
      1. A bar made of wood or metal that slides into a socket and is used to fasten doors and gates.
      2. A metal bar or rod in the mechanism of a lock that is thrown or withdrawn by turning the key.
      3. A fastener consisting of a threaded pin or rod with a head at one end, designed to be inserted through holes in assembled parts and secured by a mated nut that is tightened by applying torque.
    Idioms:
    See also:

    move

© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Another word for scour

Verb

  1. To cleanse

    See also:

    wash

    clean

  2. To search

    See also:

    search

    hunt

© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Sentence Examples

  • wide, and in a freshet in 1870 the scour reached a depth of 51 ft.

  • The natural scour thus created has given a depth of 26 ft.

  • Half the regiments form bands and scour the countryside and put everything to fire and sword.

  • And oh, the housekeeping! to keep bright the devil's door-knobs, and scour his tubs this bright day!

  • He brought his own knife, though I had two, and we used to scour them by thrusting them into the earth.

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Words that mention scour in the Dictionary

Words near scour in the Thesaurus