SCOUR
What does "SCOUR" mean?
To clean a surface by hard rubbing, or to search a place thoroughly.
Meanings
- To clean or polish by rubbing hard, often with an abrasive. He scoured the burnt pan until it shone again.
- To search a place or text thoroughly and methodically. They scoured the archives for any mention of the ship.
- To wear away or erode a channel by the force of moving water. The flood scoured a deep trench beside the bridge. technical
Did you know?
- Engineers fear 'scour' as much as cleaners use it: the river kind, when fast water erodes the sediment around a bridge's foundation, is a leading cause of bridge collapse worldwide.
Word origin
From Middle Dutch 'scuren' or Old French 'escurer', both from Late Latin 'excurare' ('to clean off'), built from 'ex-' ('out') and 'curare' ('to take care of').
Remember it
SCOUR is SOUR with a C wedged in - sour grime is exactly what you scrub away.
A little poem
Scour the old kettle-
under years of black, the gleam
was waiting all along.
haiku
What it teaches
Whether you scrub or search, scouring is the same act: friction that uncovers what was hidden.
Quick facts
What does SCOUR mean?
To clean a surface by hard rubbing, or to search a place thoroughly.
Is SCOUR a valid word?
Yes — SCOUR is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SCOUR?
SCOUR has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SCOUR come from?
From Middle Dutch 'scuren' or Old French 'escurer', both from Late Latin 'excurare' ('to clean off'), built from 'ex-' ('out') and 'curare' ('to take care of').
What can SCOUR teach us?
Whether you scrub or search, scouring is the same act: friction that uncovers what was hidden.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.