From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Scour \Scour\ (skour), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scoured}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Scouring}.] [Akin to LG. sch["u]ren, 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.
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2. To purge; as, to scour a horse.
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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.
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[I will] stain my favors in a bloody mask,
Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it.
--Shak.
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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.
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Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain. --Pope.
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5. To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush.
If my neighbor ought to scour a ditch. --Blackstone.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
scouring
n 1: moving over territory to search for something; "scouring
the entire area revealed nothing"
2: the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and
soap and water [syn: {scrub}, {scrubbing}, {scouring}]
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