(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To purge; as, to scour a horse.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To pass swiftly over; to brush along; to traverse or search thoroughly; as, to scour the coast.
(v. i.) To clean anything by rubbing.
(v. i.) To cleanse anything.
(v. i.) To be purged freely; to have a diarrhoea.
(v. i.) To run swiftly; to rove or range in pursuit or search of something; to scamper.
(n.) Diarrhoea or dysentery among cattle.
Example Sentences:
(1) He said the ongoing Australian-led search had already scoured 43% of the high-priority area.
(2) The new development, which the Californian technology giant dubs "real-time search", aims to bring users more up-to-date information as they scour the web for information.
(3) Three cases of dairy herds affected by production disease (infertility, calf scours and low milk yield) were carried out.
(4) Chances are both online and instore is a worth scouring if girls are looking for cut-price designer dresses.
(5) This study was initiated to determine the etiologic and pathogenic significance of an American strain of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus (strain NADL-MD) in enteritis of neonatal calves (calf scours).
(6) Oocysts of Cryptosporidium species were identified in the faeces of scouring calves from a dairy farm.
(7) Investigators grappling to solve the mystery of the jet's disappearance are set to scour a zone 1,100 miles (1,800km) west of Perth – previously subject to an aerial search – when an underwater probe resumes in August, the West Australian newspaper said.
(8) Scour scores on d 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 post-arrival increased (P less than .01) with increased levels of protein in the receiving diets.
(9) For all these reasons I had serious doubts when I heard that Michelin was scouring Tokyo for worthy recipients of its stars.
(10) School authorities are calling for at least 25,000 new teaching recruits to cope with the large numbers of new pupils, police officers are being brought out of retirement in their thousands, and the nation is being scoured for suitable accommodation as winter approaches.
(11) Every Monday morning, Dan Franklin scours the book charts on Amazon to find out if the weekend reviews of his authors' books have done anything for their sales.
(12) The military said forces were scouring the area near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik after the attack on Thursday night.
(13) There were no significant differences between calves from placebo-treated and vaccine-treated dams with regard to the proportion treated for all diseases, or for scours, or the proportion which died.
(14) No one who relies on a service should be expected to scour the CQC website for inspection results, or chance upon them in a local newspaper report.
(15) Their dams slow rivers down, reducing scouring and erosion, and improve water quality by holding back silt.
(16) Make a list of possible courses by scouring prospectuses and speaking to teachers, students and lecturers.
(17) Markets will be scouring a speech on Friday by Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, for any hints.
(18) This country, like a depressed teenage self-harmer, takes out a razor to scour a forearm and now contemplates its own throat,” said the author.
(19) And I had all kinds of pictures of Dylan on laps and with arms around him.” There was, she says, “an assumption that he was mistreated, or not loved”, one that Klebold knew not to be true, even as she scoured photos looking for external verification.
(20) Broadcasters are scouring the world of internet video bloggers – vloggers – in the hope of finding the next big thing, and Dapper (real name Daniel O’Reilly) was touted as one of the first to be given his own TV series .
Scum
Definition:
(v.) The extraneous matter or impurities which rise to the surface of liquids in boiling or fermentation, or which form on the surface by other means; also, the scoria of metals in a molten state; dross.
(v.) refuse; recrement; anything vile or worthless.
(v. t.) To take the scum from; to clear off the impure matter from the surface of; to skim.
(v. t.) To sweep or range over the surface of.
(v. i.) To form a scum; to become covered with scum. Also used figuratively.
Example Sentences:
(1) There, they learn that African Americans are the scum of the earth - then they are sent here.'
(2) The future is defined by the same old atavistic carnage as ever – which is, as Rosenbaum says, “an ingenious form of doublethink echoed in the very premise of a fantasy of the future beginning with “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ...” Star Wars cast feel the Force after watching new trailer Read more I don’t hate Star Wars – I love the puppetry, just for starters, and all those beautifully dirty, scum-caked robots.
(3) I mean, these people have been described as evil, as scum of the earth, and if we’re paying them, bribing them, to turn back the boats, I mean that’s almost a crime.” Abbott: “Well Neil, the important thing is to stop the boats, that’s the important thing, and I think the Australian people are extremely pleased that that’s what happened.
(4) Though waterbirds, including moorhens and gulls, live on the margins, and a thin scum of litter is visible at the shore, the reservoir is not intended as a home to wildlife, and any fish living here are accidental visitors.
(5) Anyone who doubts or questions … will be relentlessly pursued by denouncers – “disgusting” is a modest term to describe this scum.
(6) Other Greeks with similar experiences said the far-rightists, catapulted into parliament on a ticket of tackling "immigrant scum" were simply doing the job of a defunct state that had left a growing number feeling overwhelmed by a "sense of powerlessness".
(7) The debate was interrupted after 20 minutes when about 30 student demonstrators walked into the hall and began to barrack Hunt, chanting "Minister of culture, Tory vulture" and "Tory scum".
(8) She was in my face saying, ‘You’re scum, you’re scum.’” That’s not accepted by Jordan.
(9) Liz Kendall, the former leadership contender, received a tweet calling for “a final solution to purge Blairite scum” like her from the party.
(10) The chants so far are the same as those at Millbank, and cries of "Tory scum" echo around the campus.
(11) When asked about Eddie Obeid's comments directed at her over the years, which included the allegations she had been " mixing with scum for so long that she no longer knows who is good and who is bad , what is real and what is made up," she said " It's not very nice, is it? "
(12) In the opening round of the tournament he shouted “dirty scum” during the third set of a comfortable victory over Diego Schwartzman.
(13) Half the class believed they represented “elitist scum”, but other prisoners defended their purpose, saying although they couldn’t attend one themselves, they now put their own children through private education.
(14) Liz Kendall, the former leadership contender, who is still undecided, received a tweet calling for “a final solution to purge Blairite scum” like her from the party.
(15) There were accusations of sexism when he gave a female candidate on The Apprentice the third degree about how she intended to organise her childcare and he prompted more outrage with an attack on professional footballers, which he described as "he biggest scum that walk on this planet".
(16) I will do everything it takes until we win full victory to free Ukraine from this scum, from this corrupt dirt which is capitalising on the blood of our soldiers and the victims of Maidan, and which has betrayed the ideas of the Ukrainian revolution,” said Saakashvili.
(17) Richard Davenport-Hines in his recently published An English Affair: Sex, Class and Power in the Age of Profumo writes that 1963 was the year when "the soapy scum flowed after the sluices of self-righteous scurrility were opened".
(18) We were just scared.” Witness reports describe protesters throwing snowballs at the bus and shouting “Let’s see what kind of vermin will get off here” and “asylum scum”.
(19) I'm just an ordinary person, I'm not scum, I'm not a thief or a junkie, but when you are desperate you end up resorting to desperate means.
(20) I salute them for that.” Class War, originally an eponymous newspaper as well as a movement, somewhat fizzled out during the 1990s but has been recently revived, standing six candidates in this year’s general election under the slogan: “Because all the other candidates are scum.” Class War is organising a protest this Sunday at a museum originally billed as celebrating the role of women in London but which ended up focusing on the crimes of Jack the Ripper .