\Scour\, v. t.
To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush.
      If my neighbor ought to scour a ditch.   --Blackstone.

\Scour\, n.
1. The act of scouring.
2. A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a
   stream below a fall.
         If you catch the two sole denizens [trout] of a
         particular scour, you will find another pair
         installed in their place to-morrow.   --Grant Allen.

\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.
2. To purge; as, to scour a horse.
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.
         [I will] stain my favors in a bloody mask, Which,
         washed away, shall scour my shame with it. --Shak.
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.
         Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain. --Pope.
{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.

\Scour\, v. i.
1. To clean anything by rubbing. --Shak.
2. To cleanse anything.
         Warm water is softer than cold, for it scoureth
         better.                               --Bacon.
3. To be purged freely; to have a diarrh[oe]a.
4. To run swiftly; to rove or range in pursuit or search of
   something; to scamper.
         So four fierce coursers, starting to the race, Scour
         through the plain, and lengthen every pace.
                                               --Dryden.

\Scour\, n.
Diarrh[oe]a or dysentery among cattle.