Library / English Dictionary

SCOUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A place that is scoured (especially by running water)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("scour" is a kind of...):

place; spot; topographic point (a point located with respect to surface features of some region)

Derivation:

scour (rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid)

scour (clean with hard rubbing)

scour (rub hard or scrub)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid

Example:

purge the old gas tank

Synonyms:

flush; purge; scour

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "scour" is one way to...):

rinse; rinse off (wash off soap or remaining dirt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

scour (a place that is scoured (especially by running water))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clean with hard rubbing

Example:

She scrubbed his back

Synonyms:

scour; scrub

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "scour" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "scour"):

holystone (scrub with a holystone)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

scour (a place that is scoured (especially by running water))

scourer (someone who cleanses by scouring)

scouring (the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Rub hard or scrub

Example:

scour the counter tops

Synonyms:

abrade; scour

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "scour" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

scour (a place that is scoured (especially by running water))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Examine minutely

Example:

The police scoured the country for the fugitive

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "scour" is one way to...):

look for; search; seek (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

The men scour the area for animals

The men scour for animals in the area

Derivation:

scouring (moving over territory to search for something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The hall, too, was scoured; and the great carved clock, as well as the steps and banisters of the staircase, were polished to the brightness of glass; in the dining-room, the sideboard flashed resplendent with plate; in the drawing-room and boudoir, vases of exotics bloomed on all sides.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)