释义 |
▪ I. scour, n.1|skaʊə(r)| Also 4 skour(e, skowr(e, scowr, 6 scoure. [See scour v.1] 1. The action of moving rapidly or going in haste; a run or rush. † Adv. phr. good scour = with hasty movement, at a good pace (obs.).
a1300K. Alis. 4276 To his ost he farith, good skour. c1796J. Burness Thrummy Cap 31 Sae on they gaed at a gude scow'r. 1820L. Hunt Indicator No. 16 (1822) I. 122 Robin..was a fine eager-looking dog, and seemed to have all his faculties ready for a scour. †2. An onset or attack. Obs.
a1400Rel. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 96 Thane schalle erthe for erthe suffire scharpe scowrrys [v.r. schouris]. 1575Gamm. Gurton v. ii. 196 (Manly), Hodge. Was not wel blest, Gammer, to scape that scoure? 3. The rush of a driving wind.
1808Jamieson, Skour of wind. 1906G. A. B. Dewar Faery Year 65 The thrushes and blackbirds love the driving scour and the wind-rocked tree. ▪ II. scour, n.2|skaʊə(r)| Also 8–9 scower. [f. scour v.2] 1. An apparatus for washing auriferous soil. Cf. scour v.2 11 d.
1619Atkinson in Macfarlane's Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) III. 30 In all these places following..natural gold is to be found out, & you shall alwayes find skilfull seekers and discoverers thereof..for to use the Trough or Skower; but not very perfit in the Buddle. 1824G. Chalmers Caledonia III. vi. viii. 733 The places where the gold mines were formerly wrought, at the gold scours, in the valley of the Elwan. 2. The action of a current or flow of water in clearing away mud or other deposit; in Civil Engin., an artificial current or flow produced for this purpose; also, an engineering work constructed for the purpose of producing such a current. Also, the abrading or transporting action of a current of any other material.
17..in Lediard Life Marlborough (1736) III. 438 The useless Refuse, took a cleansing Scour, Along the rapid Scheld's intrenched Shore. 1729in Labelye Result View Level Fens (1745) 39 Experienced Mechanick-Practice in making Drains, Sluices, Banks, Scours, &c. 1736Badeslade New Cut Canal 5 Capt. Perry was making Sluices..to hold up Water to make a Scour, by the force of which he expected to drive the Sand to Sea and deepen that River. 1745C. Labelye Result View Fens 33 As to artificial Scours by means of Reservoirs, or relieving Basons or Sluices. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 146 The scour of the ebb-tide co-operates with the rapid flow of the river to sweep away any sediment. 1890Engineer LXVIII. 452 (Cent.) There is a low water depth of only about 4 ft., but this is to be increased by about 20 ft. by dredging and scour. 1904Jrnl. Geol. XII. 575 With these destructional effects assigned to glacial agency, a novel possibility is at once suggested as to the part played in their persistent development by glacial scour, or coarse abrasion. 1909Daily News 15 Dec. 9 A small piece of land at the far end of the reservoir..together with..15 manholes, one air valve, three scours in connection with the pipe line. 1933Schuchert & Dunbar Textbk. Geol. (ed. 3) xix. 425 The ice and the scour of the last glaciers removed all weak materials. 1954Jrnl. Geol. Soc. Australia I. 77 The wind scour is able to drive the sand into heaps which migrate slowly down wind. 1975Offshore Sept. 49-17/1 Scour is probably the greatest menace to offshore structures and pipelines. 3. A place in a river where the bottom is scoured by the stream; a river-shallow with a gravel bottom.
1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xli. §6 (1689) 310 In March they shoot into the Scours to spawn. 1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 30 Angle..for pearches, in scours. 1833Bowlker Art of Angling 82 The haunts of Roach, during spring, are on the shallows and scowers. 1872H. W. Taunt Map of Thames 21/2 Below are fine scours and deeps, affording good fishing. 4. Sc. A hearty drink (of a beverage); a ‘swig’. Cf. scour v.2 11 e.
1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 167 If that her tippony chance to be sma' We'll tak a good scour o't, and ca't awa. 1728― Robt., Richy, & Sandy 132 We'll take a scour o't to put aff our pain. 5. A kind of diarrhœa in livestock. Also pl. (chiefly U.S.).
1764Museum Rust. I. 450 It actually gives, or inclines them to a scower (and other disorders well known to the shepherds). Ibid. II. 9 A remedy for the white scour in sheep. 1802Willich Dom. Encycl. IV. 60/2 The White Scour is an uncommon looseness, occasioned by feeding sheep on putrescent vegetables. 1848Rep. Comm. Patents 1847 (U.S.) 507 They say the disease called the ‘scours’ is the principal one to which sheep are liable. 1881Sheldon Diary Farming 61/2 An effectual preventive of ‘scour’, a malady from which young calves, when reared away from their mothers, are constantly liable to suffer. 1950[see beestings 1]. 1970W. H. Parker Health & Dis. in Farm Animals xvii. 226 In sheep the disease causes the same wasting but without the scour. 1973M. R. Crowell Greener Pastures 16 Rameses II [sc. a sheep] has lately been having scours, or loose-bowel trouble. 1975N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 3/1 The hens..also appear to have a green scour. 1981‘E. Peters’ St. Peter's Fair i. 18 They're having trouble..with scour among the calves. 6. The detergent matter used in scouring wool.
1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 657/1 The wool..was rinsed in a current of clean water to remove the ‘scour’. 7. An act of scouring, cleansing, or polishing.
Mod. colloq. Give the floor a good scour. 8. Austral. and N.Z. A building in which wool is scoured.
1925L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs (1930) 1st Ser. vi. 123 The Creek Station..was leased to T. P. Bartrum from 1879 onwards, and he established a wool scour there. 1934T. Wood Cobbers xvi. 195 The scour was a long open shed on stilts, with sheep-pens leading into it and out of it. 9. Comb.: scour-hole, a hole made in mud or sand by the scour of the tide; scour-way (see quot.); † scour-wort, a name suggested for Saponaria officinalis.
1890Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. 24 She sank there, and the next tide made a *scour-hole on one side of her.
1895Funk's Stand. Dict., *Scourway, Geol., a drainage-furrow caused by a strong current, as by a glacial river flowing over a gravel plain.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 66 Radicula..if we had it here, it myghte be called in english sopewurt or *skowrwurt. ▪ III. scour, v.1|skaʊə(r)| Forms: 4 scur(e, schoure, 4–7 skour(e, scoure, 5–8 scowr(e, 6–7 skowr(e, 7–8 scower, 6– scour. [Of obscure origin. In some of the senses explained below there may have been coalescence of words of identical form but etymologically unconnected; it is difficult in some uses to distinguish between this verb and scour v.2, by association with which its sense-development has certainly been influenced. The relation to the cognate scour n.1 is uncertain; from the early date of the latter, it is perh. more likely to be the source of the verb than a derivative of it, so that the n. may be ad. ON. skúr storm, shower n., and the vb. may correspond to Norw. skura to rush violently. In the originally military uses, the vb. may perh. be partly a back-formation from scourer. The current view, that the verb is a. OF. escourre (:—L. excurrĕre, f. ex- out + currĕre to run) seems untenable, as the OF. word would normally have assumed in ME. the form scurre instead of scoure.] 1. a. intr. To move about hastily or energetically; esp. to range about in search of something, or in movements against a foe.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 390 Corineus herwiþ harde smot & stured [MS. α scurede, β scured, γ scuryd] him aboute, & made is wey bi eiþer side & percede þe route. c1470Henry Wallace ix. 180 Skour weyll about for scoukaris in the se. 1477Paston Lett. III. 185 In plesurys new, your hert dooth score and raunge So hye and ferre. 1576Turberv. Venerie lxii. 176 Lette him carie them [the hounds] home vncoupled, that they may skoure at large and skommer. 1594Kyd Cornelia iv. i. 196 He that..fearles scowres in danger's coasts, T'enlarge his countries liberty. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 641 Barbarussa thus scouring alongst the coast of Italie,..strucke such an exceeding terrour into the mindes of the citizens [etc.]. 1615Heywood Four Prentises i. D 3 b, Sirra go you and scoure about the hill. 1647Trapp Comm. Rev. iv. 6 Furnished with six wings apiece..to scoure about for the peoples benefit. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables ccxxiv. 196 There was a Freak took an Ass in the Head, to Scoure abroad upon the Ramble. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Scour about, to ramble or run raking about. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 323 While these intrepid Bands..out-fly the Storm, And scowring round, make Men and Beasts their Prey. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. ii. ii, Furnishers scour in gigs over all districts of France. 1865A. Smith Summer in Skye I. 152 How John Kelly shouted and objurgated, and how his dog scoured about! [driving cattle]. 1879Sala in Daily Tel. 26 June, The City authorities scoured fruitlessly about in quest of a new site for a debtors prison. b. To move rapidly, go in haste, run. Chiefly with advs., indicating the direction, etc.
13..K. Alis. 3722 Lordynges, he saide, hit is nought to fleon! We buth the ost and the water bytwene... Hit is beter that we to heom schoure [Bodl. scoure], So longe so we may dure. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xi. (Symon & Judas) 297 Þai wysmen þan scouryt þam faste. 1512Helyas in Thoms Prose Rom. (1858) III. 104 The swanne put him afore the shippe, the which he made to scoure upon the water in suche wise that they were anon ferre fro Lyleforte. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 20 The lady..from him fled away with all her powre: Who after her as hastily gan scowre. a1600Floddan F. iii. (1664) 23 The Scots anon they scoured in And plyed apace unto their prey. a1630Tom Thumb 410 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 229 She took him up between her jaws, And scower'd up a tree. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 39 The Galley scowred away a maine course. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables lxxxiii. 81 They..Scoure off themselves and leave Those that Trust them to pay the Reck'ning. 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 139 He scour'd after me as hard as he could. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 566 Away he scowered, and left my Pilot..a compleat Victory. 1810Southey Kehama xxiii. xi, Through the red sky terrific meteors scour. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain viii. 51, I..scoured on my way with more speed than before. 1851Carlyle Sterling ii. iv, Sterling..took to daily riding in summer; scouring far and wide on a swift strong horse. 1865Livingstone Zambesi viii. 181 Dogs turn tail and scour off in dismay. †c. (Without adv.) To depart in haste, run away, decamp. (Chiefly colloq. or slang.) Obs.
a1592Greene Alcida (1617) H 2, Wherevpon the mariners reioyced, hoising vp sailes, and thrusting into the maine, we scowred and returned home to the court. 1687Sedley Bellamira Prol., Till all the Ladies and some Gallants scowre. 1688Shadwell Sq. Alsatia, Expl. Cant, To Scamper, to rubb, to scowre, to run away. 1688Luttrell Brief Rel. I. 486 Some of them that lay most obnoxious are scowring; several of which are taken and secured making their escapes. 1697Vanbrugh Relapse iv. iv. (end), No, no; fire over their Heads only to fright 'em; I'll warrant the Regiment scours when the Collonel's a Prisoner. 1753Foote Englishm. in Paris i. Wks. 1799 I. 35 How the powder flew about, and the Monsieurs scour'd. 2. a. trans. To pass rapidly over or along (a tract of land or water); esp. to traverse in quest of something, or in order to capture or drive away a foe. Cf. scour v.2 8.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 363 And þis lore shulden prestis lerne, and speciali hey prelatis, siþ þei shulden scure, [v.r. skoure] þe weie to þe oost þat comeþ aftir. 1456Sir G. Haye Law of Arms (S.T.S.) 230/11 Gif a Franche knycht..had runnyn before Bordeaulx to scoure the contree and tak prisouneris. a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. cxciii. 196 This Edgar..vsed, in the somer tyme, to scowre the see with certeyne shyppes of warre. 1553Brende Q. Curtius D viij, By that time such as were sent before to scowre the countrey, came in, and reported. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 464 The king before he would take his voyage, sent the Erle of Huntyngdon to serche and scowre the Seas. Ibid. 833 The noble men.. without any tariyng, scouryng the wayes as fast as their horses could runne. 1594Kyd Cornelia v. 79 Euen so our battails..Dyd scoure the plaines in pursuite of the foe. 16363rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 73/2 You..may spare part [of your fleet] to scour the Channel to the Land's End westward. 1667Milton P.L. 529 And Scouts each Coast light-armed scoure, Each quarter, to descrie the distant foe. 1776Johnson Let. to Boswell 5 Mar., I know not but we may scour the country together, for I have a mind to see Oxford and Lichfield. 1807G. Chalmers Caledonia I. iii. iii. 342 Their piratical countrymen..scoured those coasts, in quest of prey. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. v, Patrols..scour the streets, all that night. 1856Stanley Sinai & P. xi. (ed. 3) 390 The sloping hills..scoured by herds of gazelles. 1885C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 116 He went aloft, scoured the hold, examined the galley. b. fig. To run over in the mind, with the eye, etc.
1882‘Mark Twain’ Prince & Pauper xxv. 300 Scour and scan me to thy content. 1883Sunday Mag. July 432/2, I stand here scouring the universe with my imagination. 1909Beerbohm Yet Again 69 You scour the list vaguely, and order a pint of 273. 3. spec. in 17th–18th century slang (cf. scourer1 2). a. intr. To roam about at night uproariously, breaking windows, beating the watch, and molesting wayfarers.
1673Shadwell Epsom Wells ii. i, You drink Burgundy perpetually and Scower as you call it. 1687Sedley Bellamira iii. i. Wks. 1778 II. 152, I went home drunk, and scour'd outragiously. 1712Steele Spect. No. 358 ⁋1 There is no Inhabitant of any standing in Covent-Garden, but can tell you a hundred good Humours, where People have come off with little Blood-shed, and yet scowered all the witty Hours of the Night. 1717Prior Alma iii. 233 From Milk⁓sop He starts up Mohack:..So thro' the Street at Midnight scow'rs: Breaks Watch-men's Heads, and Chair-men's Glasses. 1756Gentl. Mag. XXVI. 37 As bees for honey range from flow'r to flow'r, From house to house I see Mundungus scow'r! b. trans. To ill-treat or ‘maul’ (the watch, wayfarers, etc.) while roistering in the streets.
1681Dryden Sp. Fryar Prol. 39 Scowring the Watch grows out of fashion wit. 1687Sedley Bellamira iv. i. Wks. 1778 II. 177 Mer. The house is beset: What's here, scourers?.. Cun. We'll scour 'em for a company of uncivil fellows, thus to disturb lovers at their innocent recreations. 1692Scarronides ii. 33 Our Watch they scowre, and greet with ill-blows. 1723Briton No. 19 (1724) 83 They got drunk,..scower'd the Watch, abused the Constable. c. To roister through (the streets).
1691Comedy, Win her & Take Her i. i. 2 We'le scour ev'ry street And kick all we meet. 1753Scots Mag. Oct. 491/2 We scoured the street after our nocturnal revel. ▪ IV. scour, v.2|skaʊə(r)| Forms: 3–4 schur, skur, 3–5 scur(e, 3–7 skour(e, 4–7 skowre, 4–8 scowr(e, scoure, 5–6 score, 5–7 skore, scoore, 6 skower, 5–9 scower, 9 dial. scaur, 4– scour. [Prob. a. MDu. or MLG. schûren (mod.Du. schuren, mod.LG. schüren), whence mod.G. scheuern and MSw., Sw. skura, Da. skure; Du. has also a vb. schuieren to brush, which is prob. a dialectal variant. The Du. and LG. word is prob. a. OF. escurer (mod.F. écurer) = Pr., Sp. escurar, It. sgurare, scurare (rare):—popular L. *excūrāre (med.L. escūrāre, scūrāre) to polish, scour, f. ex- out + cūrāre, in class. Latin to take care of (f. cura care), in med.L. also to clean (so F. curer). Direct adoption from OF. escurer is not likely, as the word should in that case have become scure in mod.Eng. (cf. cure, pure). The same objection applies to the hypothesis of adoption from monastic Latin, unless it be supposed that the word had been English for some centuries before the date of the first known examples. Possibly the word was brought in as a technical term by Flemish workmen.] 1. a. trans. To cleanse or polish (metal, earthenware, wood, etc.) by hard rubbing with some detergent substance. Sometimes with compl. adj., as bright, clean. Also const. of, from (rust, etc.).
a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 540 Hir heer was as yelowe of hewe As any basin scoured newe. c1440Alphabet of Tales 223 Sho..wasshid dysshis & skowrid pottys. c1450Merlin xx. 313 Thei..scowred hauberkes and furbisshed swerdes and helmes. 1530Palsgr. 707/1, I scoure vessel, I make it bright and cleane. 1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 78, I see you Peerce, my glasse was lately scowrde. 1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 62 They skowre them so bright that a man may behold his face in them. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d' Alf. i. 132, I was..in my Masters Kitchen, scowring of the Panns and the Spits. 1697Dryden æneid vi. 1114 By dint of Sword his Crown he shall increase; And scour his Armour from the Rust of Peace. 1709Female Tatler No. 4/3 When the Cook Maid's Sick, he'll..scowre down the Stairs. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. vii, Grudging a quarter of a pound of Soap and Sand to scowre the Rooms. c1714Arbuthnot, etc. Mem. Martinus Scriblerus i. iii, The Truth was, the Maid..had scoured it as clean as her Andirons. 1836Thirlwall Greece xiv. II. 195 His slaves were scouring the vessels of gold and silver displayed on the sideboard. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair liv, [He] passed by the scared female who was scouring the steps. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 193 The stone largely used for scouring paint is a lava of very porous texture. b. fig. Also with over, up (cf. ‘polish up’). Now rare or Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 25867 Els moght moght na clensing fire þi saul skur to make it schirre. Ibid. 28058 Þarfor ilkan i rede forloke þat þai..skir þam sua wit þair in-sight, þair conscience sua clene and bright, þat þai þar-in leue nakin thing þat ani nede haf o scuring. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 1219 Þai..þat þame-self ofe syne wil scoure. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xli. (1869) 195 She leueth no thing þat she ne correcteth and skowreth and forbisheth. c1450Mirk's Festial 93 Wherfor þys tyme of Lenton ys ordeynt only to scowre and to clanse your concyens of all maner roust and fulþe of synne. 1556Parker Ps. cxix. 140 Skord cleane full out thy word is seene: fine tride from drosse impure. 1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. iv. xii. §5 Some few..who..are not so scowred of their former rust, as to forsake their auncient perswasion. 1608Day Law Trickes i. i, How the daw Scoures ore his rustie phrases! 1611Speed Chron. ix. xxiv. 871/2 [Q. Eliz. said] I haue been enforced this day to scowre vp my old Latine, that hath laine long in rusting. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 161, I will..scoure up that little Toscane language, which..shall be remaining unto me. 1639Fuller Holy War i. v. (1640) 7 Heraclius..scoured bright an old holy-day with a new solemnitie. 1654― Two Serm. 58 Such who by Art and Education..have scoured over the dimme inscription of the Morall Law, that it appeared plaine unto them. c. absol. or intr.
a1450Knt. de la Tour viii. (1906) 11 Score so long on this plate till ye haue hadde awey all the blacke spottis. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 315 Item, she can wash and scoure. 1710Steele Tatler No. 248 ⁋5 The Wench in the Kitchen sings and scours from Morning to Night. 1859Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxii, Listening to all manner o' gossip when they should be down on their knees a-scouring. d. trans. (hyperbolically). To thrust (a sword, knife) in a person's body.
1613Hayward Will. I 68 Encouraging one another..to scoure their swords in the entrailes of their enemies. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxx, Have ye a mind I should scour my knife between your ribs, as my mother says? e. To clean the inside of (a gun) after firing.
1611Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle v. i, Let me see your peece neighbor Greene-goose, when was she shot in? Greene. And like you maister Captaine, I made a shot euen now, partly to scoure her, and partly for audacity. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiii. 61 Souldiers scowre your peeces. 1658A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. i. iii. 9 Even as Musquetieres are scouring their Musquets after much shooting. † f. slang. To wear (fetters); to sit in (the stocks). Obs.
c1450Mankind 634 in Macro Plays 24 Me semyth ȝe haue scoryde a peyr of fetters. 1533J. Heywood Pardoner & Frere 602 Thou shalt not escape me, Tyll thou hast scouryd a pare of stokys. 1561J. Awdelay Frat. Vacab. (1869) 84 To skower the cramp-rings, to weare boltes or fetters. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Scoure, to wear. g. U.S. Of a plough, to pass through the soil easily, without earth adhering to the mould-board; freq. in negative contexts. Also fig., to succeed.
1871Northern Vindicator (Estherville, Iowa) 6 May 3/1 The contemptible wretch who stole the collar to the saw at the steam mill a few weeks ago, has come to the conclusion that his meanness did not ‘scour’, as he anticipated, and hence he placed the collar under a board pile in town where it was discovered on Monday last. 1881J. Periam Amer. Encycl. Agric. 742/2 In the average soil there [sc. in eastern U.S.] the cast-iron plow would scour perfectly. 1887W. H. Lamon in Washington Critic 3 Sept. 3/1 He [sc. Lincoln] said to me on stand, immediately after the [Gettysburg] speech: ‘Lamon, that speech won't scour. It is a flat failure, and the people are disappointed.’ 1948Sat. Even. Post 7 Feb. 109/1 Then his old moldboard plow wouldn't scour, and after we'd sharpened it he broke the beam. 2. a. trans. To remove grease or dirt from (cloth, wool, silk, etc.) by some detergent process.
1467–8Rolls of Parlt. V. 630/1 The said Clothes..clene scowred, full dryed, and redy to the sale. c1483Caxton Dialogues 34 Rescourer vne robe, Skowre agayn a goune. 1496Coventry Leet Bk. 574 To scoure & fresche old bonettes. 1565Act 8 Eliz. c. 11 §2 The same Cappe [shall] be first well scoured and closed upon the Banke. 1601Holland Pliny xix. i. II. 5 There is a kind of Poppies much sought after for blaunching and bleaching of linnen cloths; for being skoured therewith, it is wonderfull how white and pure they will looke. 1626Bacon Sylva §362 In some Lakes the Water is so Nitrous, as if Foule Cloaths be put into it, it scoureth them of it selfe. 1683Wilding in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 257 For scouring my Coate 00 00 06. 1751Chambers' Cycl. s.v. Dying, Dying of thread is begun by scouring it in a lye of good ashes. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. iii. 107 When the cloth is woven, he sends it..to be ‘scoured’ and ‘fulled’. 1888Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 657/1 Stale urine was a favourite medium in which to scour wool. b. absol. Also fig.
1624Quarles Job Militant Med. vi. 41 Teares, mingled with thy Blood can scower so, That Scarlet sinnes shall turne as white as Snow. 1626Bacon Sylva §362 Warme Water scoureth better than Cold. 3. a. To wash vigorously (the hands, face, teeth); to ‘scrub’. Now only jocular.
1589Warner Alb. Eng. vi. xxx. (1612) 147 Vnto the Trough he hies, And skowres his coly fists and face. 1602How to chuse good Wife iii. iii. F 4, He had a pound of sope to scowre his face. 1675Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 72 They..gave him th' oyl to scour his skin withal. a1704Compleat Servant-Maid (ed. 7) 65 To wash the Face, to keep it smooth and to scower it clean. 1712Swift Midas 71 British Midas' dirty Paws; Which..the Senate strove to scour. 1871R. Ellis Catullus xxxvii. 20 And teeth a native lotion hardly scours quite pure. b. transf. To cleanse (the teeth) by chewing some substance. Also, † to scour one's mouth on, to abuse, vilify.
1598Florio To Rdr. a viij, Let Aristophanes and his comedians make plaies, and scowre their mouthes on Socrates. 1781C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper I. 83 To eat cold beef, and drink strong beer for breakfast, and to scour his teeth after it with a quid of tobacco. 4. To cleanse (a wound, ulcer, the entrails of an animal) by treating with some medicament.
c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 9 Take, wasshe tho isues of swannes anon, And skoure tho guttus with salt ichon. 1547Boorde Brev. Health Pref. 4 That they clense and scoure the woundes from al corupcion. 1612Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 31 This unguent serveth well to cleanse and scowre ulcers. 1747H. Glasse Cookery (1796) xviii. 290 Take your eel and scour it well with salt. 5. a. To clear out (a channel, ditch, drain, etc.) by removing dirt, weeds, etc. Also with out, † up.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 754 The canel skoured was so clene. 1519Presentm. Juries in Surtees Misc. (1890) 31 The grett Inquest..commandes all wattersewers..be dykid and scoried by Withesonday. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §123 Than scoure the olde dyche, and cast it vp newe. 1579in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 403 The..ryvers..shalbe ryde and scowred. 1589P. Ive Pract. Fortif. 3 It may haue the riuer turned into the ditch to skowre the ditch of any thing that may be cast into it. 1645Symonds Diary (Camden) 231 A large ditch..lately scowred and cast vp. 1657G. Thornley Daphnis & Chloe (1893) 79 He scowred the Fountains, that the Water might be clear and transparent. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 52 Working hard to scour their moats. 1740J. Leaford Observ. S. Level Fens 21 It is proposed..To scour out St. John's Eau, and lay the Earth on the Norfolk side. 1747Franklin Lett. Wks. (1887) II. 81, I first scoured up my ditches and drains, and took off all the weeds. 1785Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. 1906 III. 232 These watercourses again call for a considerable expense to keep them properly scoured and duly levelled. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 433 The hedger now resumes his work of water-tabling and scouring ditches. 1886Act 49 & 50 Vic. c. 49 §9 The Admiralty may..dredge scour and deepen the foreshore and bed of the sea within the said limits. b. to scour a hedge (see quot. 1847).
1562Act 5 Eliz. c. 13 §5 The Hayes, Fenses, Dykes or Hedges..shall from time to tyme be diked, scoured, repaired and kept lowe. 1847Halliwell, Scour. (1) To scour a hedge, to deepen the ditch, and to breast up the hedge with the soil taken out. North. 6. a. To clear out or cleanse by flushing with water.
1587Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1547/1 So as by the space of foure daies there could be no water reteined within the pent, to scowre the mouth of the hauen. 1619S. Atkinson Gold Mynes Scot. (Bannatyne Club) 1 Sufficient water..for..scowring places..with which all sorts of earth are to be washed or scowred. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xix. 339 If his land accosteth the sea, he considereth..what Keys are rusty with sands and shelves, and what are scoured with a free and open tide. 1839Civ. Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 86/1 The projection of this isle,..forcing the tide⁓wave southward, causes it to run northward, again, with great force, and scour out the Bay of Weymouth. 1847Lyell Princ. Geol. xix. (ed. 7) 263 During other seasons of the year, the ocean makes reprisals, scouring out the channels. b. with away: To form (a channel) by flushing.
c1683Cowley's Voy. in Cook's Voy. (1790) III. 846 There cannot be so great a lack of water, but must needs scowre a channell away at the ebbe deepe enough for shipping to goe in. c. To clear or refresh (the throat) with liquor. Sc.
1787W. Taylor Scots Poems 4 (E.D.D.) Upo' that hint I scour'd my rusty throat. 1801W. Beattie Fruits of Time Parings (1873) 15 (ibid.) Lat's see a drappie o' yer beer, To scour my crap. 7. a. Of a medicine, or of one who administers it: To purge (an animal, a person, the body, etc.); to evacuate (the stomach or bowels). Also, to cleanse (worms, fish, etc.) by purging.
1375Barbour Bruce iii. 542 Thai eyt it with full gud will, That soucht [nane othir] salss thar-till Bot appetyt, that oft men takys; For weill scowryt war thar stomakys. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 35 b, At which tyme they are very good to skowre horses. 1594Kyd Cornelia iii. ii. 71 Like to a Curre that Carrion hath deuour'd, And cannot rest, vntill his mawe be scour'd. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 434 Ponds or Stewes..to feed Pikes and Tenches fat, and to scoure them from the strong and muddy fennish taste. 1653Walton Angler vi. 138 A Lob or Garden worm, which should be wel scowred, that is to say, [kept] seven or eight dayes in Moss before you fish with them. 1656Ridgley Pract. Physic 87 Clysters in great quantity if you would scowre the guts. 1691Braggadocio iii. i. 35, I hate to have a puddle o' your Outlandish Nusance cloging my Stomach. Top. Puh.—a scouring Bottle of Pontack will scour it again, Mun. 1765Treat. Dom. Pigeons 29 Pease, wheat, and barley are apt to scour your Pigeons too much. 1817J. Mayer Sportsman's Direct. (ed. 2) 132 Scour them [sc. gentles] in sand, in a flannel bag. 1843Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 210 [He] immediately proceeded to scour him with the most potent medicines. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. v. ii. §3. 236/2 All these worms should be scoured, a process which consists in starving them, by placing them in damp moss. 1888J. Inglis Tent Life in Tigerland 72 This food..has a tendency to scour the animals. b. absol. Of medicine or food: To act as a purge.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. xlvi. 261 Pellitorie of the wall..hath force to scoure. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden xx. 42 The ordinary great Celandine..scowreth and cleanseth effectually. 1884Farm & Home 25 Oct. 275/2 Potatoes and middlings tend to scour. c. refl. Chiefly of worms and fish: To become clean by purging.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 12 These wormes did first scoure themselves, either in mosse, lome, or bran. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min., Isagoge d 4 b, Pond-fish..are not so sweet as river fish, except they have been kept in rivers to scoure themselves. Ibid. d 6 b, Snailes..are best towards winter having scoured themselves. 1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 104 Pike..spawn from early April to the end of May,..and, after a short rest,.. scour themselves in the streams or shallows. d. intr. (for refl.) To be purged. Of worms, fishes, etc.: To be cleansed by purging. Of livestock: To have diarrhœa.
1592Repentance of Robert Greene D 2, Al his paine was in his belly. And although he continually scowred, yet still his belly sweld. 1616Surfl. & Markham Country Farm iv. xvi. 514 The wormes..will not onely liue long therein, but also scoure and feed. 1681J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. iii. §16 (1689) 26 The Dew preserves them [sc. baits] and makes them scour and thrive. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 242 If you turn Sheep into Wheat or Rye to feed, let it not be too rank..lest it make them Scowre. 1725Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Bait, A dead Man's Skull beaten to powder for the Worms to scour in. 1764Museum Rust. II. 147 Those which had the lask, and scowered. 1909Daily News 5 May 4 Young spring grass is about the worst food for calves, causing them to scour very badly. 8. fig. a. To rid, clear (a place, the sea, etc.) of or from an enemy or other undesirable occupants. Closely associated with scour v.1 2.
a1300Cursor M. 475 He..schurd [Gött. skourd, Trin. scoured] þat curt o þam sa clene, þat sithen þar sted was neuer sene. 1531Dial. on Laws Eng. ii. xlvii. [li.] 97 b, The lord of the narowe see is bounde..to scoure the see of pyrattes. 1603Drayton Bar. Wars vi. lxiv, As..Some fleet-wing'd haggard..th'ayre of all her feath'red flocks doth skower. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle v. i, And like a sort of true-borne Scauingers, scoure me this famous Realme of enemies. a1627Hayward Ann. Q. Eliz. (Camden) 49 He was appointed to skowre the seas from unlawfull adventurers. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 98 It is the Catwals Business with a Guard of near Two hundred Men, to scower the Streets..of idle Companions. a1701Maundrell Journ. Jerus. 28 Feb. (1732) 4 Maintaining the ways in good repair, and scouring them from Arabs, and Robbers. 1716B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1865) I. 180 Church received a Commission..to Scoure the Woods of some of the lurking Enemy. 1786W. Thomson Watson's Philip III, vi. (1839) 317 This..contributed not a little to scour the sea from the pirates. 1826Scott Diary in Lockhart Life (1839) IX. 17 He might have done well there could he have scoured his brains of politics. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v., To scour the country means to clear the country of the enemy for miles around. b. (of a devastating plague).
1607J. Davies Summa Totalis (Grosart) 21/2 The Plague (which late our Mother-Citty scour'd And erst the Kingdome made halfe desolate!) 9. fig. To beat, scourge. Hence, to punish, treat severely.
c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋596 He..broghte a yerde to scoure with the child. c1400Rule St. Benet 1536 Þe nouices, whils þai er ȝing Aw to be scorid for swilk a thing. c1425Lydg. Testament Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 255 Of the yeerde somtyme I stood in awe, To be scooryd that was al my dreede. c1440Alphabet of Tales 259 He tuke a wand and skowrid þaim bathe. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 737 Ȝa! thys hard balys on þi bottokkys xall byte!..cum vp, ȝe horsons, and skore a-wey þe yche! c1590Marlowe Faustus 977 Ile teach ye to impeach honest men: stand by, Ile scowre you for a goblet. [1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 60 If you grow fowle with me Pistoll, I will scoure you with my Rapier, as I may, in fayre tearmes.] 1662Pepys Diary 4 Feb., We shall scoure him for it. 1730Fielding Author's Farce i. viii, But I will pay the dog, I will scour him. 10. To sweep or rake (a place, position, a body of men, etc.) with gun-shot. Also, to command (a position, etc.) with one's guns.
1563W. Cothe in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. ii. 32 Our steple..on the which stoode iii fayre Demi-Colveryns to skowre the topp of the hills. 1578T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 320 Cortes unshipped three peeces of ordinance to scoure the Cawsey, which was full of enemies. 1589P. Ive Pract. Fortif. 11 That the artillerie which shoulde scoure the front of yt one Bulwarke might lye couered in the other Bulwarke. c1620Fletcher & Mass. Double Marriage ii. i, How many saile of wel man'd ships before us,..Have we pursued and scowerd. 1630R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 304 The South part..is well defended with Casemats, the better to scoure the Curtaine. 1704Lond. Gaz. 4082/3 The Ditch is doubly Palisadoed, with very good Flanks within, to scour the Moat when they enter. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Scour the length of a Line, to rake a Line from end to end with the Shot, so that every Bullet which comes in at one end, sweeps all along to the other. 1781T. Simes Milit. Guide (ed. 3) 12 Small parties of light cavalry to scour the flanks. 1802C. James Milit. Dict. s.v. Firing, Street Firing is the method of firing adopted to defend or scour a street, lane, or narrow pass of any kind. 1876Bancroft Hist. U.S. V. xx. 567 He ordered up heavy artillery and scoured the woods with grape. 11. To remove, get rid of. Chiefly with advs., as away, off, out. a. To remove (rust, dirt, etc.) by cleansing or hard rubbing. Also fig.
c1410Lydg. Life Our Lady lxv. (? 1484) k j, He came for our sauacion To scoure aweye the rust of al our blame. c1440Promp. Parv. 450/2 Scowryn [Winch. MS. scoryn] a-wey ruste, erugino, erubigino. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 137, I will..staine my fauours in a bloody Maske: Which washt away, shall scowre my shame with it. 1631Sanderson Serm. II. 15 The stains will not easily (if at all) be scoured off again. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §31 He would often speak that there was much of good in the order of bishops, if the dross were scoured off. 1806J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life xi. No. 18 (ed. 3) I. 263 The face or hands..begrimed with that mysterious sort of filth, which, as soon as you have, with great difficulty, scoured it away, returns again and again. 1866Redgrave Cent. Painters II. 605 Many a one whose qualifications consist only in the reckless impudence with which he dares to use the spirit or the alkali to scour off dirt and art together, places a half-washed portrait in the window, and dubs himself a restorer. b. To drive (an enemy, etc.) out of the land.
1470Henry Wallace vii. 16 How thai suld tak on hand The rychtwys blud to scour out of Scotland. a1600Floddan F. viii. (1664) 73 The gray gooswing did work such greif, And did the Scots so skoure and skaile. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 287 After that Scanderbeg had thus..scoured the Turks out of euery corner of Epirus. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 56 What Rubarb, Cyme, or what Purgatiue drugge Would scowre these English hence? 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. iii. 365 King Saul, who had formerly scoured Witches out of all Israel. 1655― Ch. Hist. iii. 112 Fullers earth, a precious ware is daily scowred hence, though by law forbidden to be transported. c. To discharge, evacuate, purge away (a humour, disease, excrement, etc.).
1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 190 b, It scowreth away the collections of a Plurisy beginning. 1620Fletcher Chances iii. ii, Has given me a dam'd Glister,..Has almost scour'd my guts out. 1620Venner Via Recta vii. 157 It concocteth and scowreth downwards crude and phlegmaticke humors. 1657W. Coles Adam in Eden ciii, The same stamped with Honey..consumeth and scoureth away the Ulcers of the Head. 1694Motteux Rabelais iv. xliii, They sow..but..Wind-flowers,..herbs that may make One break wind to the purpose, these scowre them off carefully. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 84 There are Horses which put off, or scour off their Meat (as we say) very fast. d. To remove or clear away by flushing with water.
c1582T. Digges in Archæologia XI. 227 Beache..vnder the Sowthern jawe of the haven mowth..by the force of the Master Sluce shall allway be scowred and remooued. 1596Harington Metam. Ajax 42 By turning a streame of water on the mickesons, he scowred away that in a weeke, that an hundred could scant haue done in a yeare. 1619Atkinson in Macfarlane's Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.) III. 31 Their usual manner is, when they seek for Gold..to frame or make a long seuch or scowring place into which they bring the stream of water, to scowr away the light earth from the heavy sandy earth. 1849Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. (1850) II. 152 The tide enters far up each channel, scouring out mud and sand. †e. To drink off (a health). Obs. Sc. (Cf. scour n.2 3.)
1718Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. xi, He..scour'd aff healths anew, Clean out that day. ▪ V. † scour, v.3 Obs. rare. [Aphetic f. discour(e, discover.] trans. To divulge, reveal, disclose.
1584Munday Fidele & Fortunio 12 in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. CXXIII. 48 Heare you Maister Fortunio..Doo but scoure your minde to mee, and shut vp your greef: Either Ile finde you some ease, or you shalbe hangd for a theef. |