scurry
/ˈskʌri
/verb (scurries, scurrying, scurried) [no object, with adverbial of direction]
(Of a person or small animal) move hurriedly with short quick steps: pedestrians scurried for cover...
- Bridges fly over the entrance route so, through the glass slot over the entrance, the public can see their civil servants scurrying or drifting about.
- Crucifixes and virgin statues bob and wave humorously at the camera as the children scurry along.
- They decide to sink the boat to ensure it can't be salvaged, and are horrified when British sailors scurry out onto the deck and leap into the vast and dark Atlantic as the vessel sinks.
Synonyms
scamper, scuttle, bustle, skip, trot, hurry, hasten, make haste, rush, race, dash, run, sprint;
British scutter
informal scoot, beetle
noun [in singular]
1A situation of hurried and confused movement: I was in such a scurry...
- After the frantic scurry of the days before our departure, it was soothing to have no telephone calls, no letters to answer, not much to do but look after the baby, and eat, drink and sleep.
Synonyms
rush, race, dash, run, sprint;
scamper, scampering, scuttle, scuttling, scramble, scrambling, bustle, bustling, trot, hurry;
British scutter, scuttering
2A flurry of rain or snow: the sled disappeared in a scurry of snow
Synonyms
swarm, cloud, flock, horde, throng, bustle, maelstrom, turmoil, flurry, whirl, flood
Origin
Early 19th century: abbreviation of hurry-scurry, reduplication of hurry.