scour

1. (transitive) To clean, polish, or wash (something) by rubbing and scrubbing it vigorously, frequently with an abrasive or cleaning agent.Examples: "He scoured the burnt food from the pan."; "If tranſcribers and printers, or editors, will be perpetually varying from the ſpelling of their author, we ſhall neceſſarily have a conſtant ſource of corruption: for by this alteration, which inſenſibly goes on from ſmaller to greater things, that antique caſt is loſt, which of itſelf carries ſo venerable an aſpect; and our modern editors, in this reſpect, reſemble the officious ſervant of the late learned antiquary Dr. Woodward, who in ſcowering off the ruſt from an old ſhield, which his maſter had juſt purchaſed, made it more reſemble the new ſcowered cover of an old kettle, than the ſhield of an ancient heroe."; "They all looked directly at the ſcullion,—the ſcullion had juſt been ſcouring a fiſh-kettle."transitive

2. (transitive) To remove debris and dirt (from something) by purging; to sweep along or off by a current of water.Examples: "I will redeeme all this on Percies head, / And in the cloſing of ſome glorious day / Be bold to tell you that I am your ſonne, / When I will weare a garment all of bloud, / And ſtaine my fauors in a bloudy maske, / Which waſht away ſhall ſcoure my ſhame with it, […]"; "It has already been explained that the ebb tide in the Hooghly is a much more powerful scouring agent than the flood tide, that the tide therefore should be used for scouring a channel in preference to the flood whenever it is practicable to use it, hence it is to the body of ebbing water that scours out the fine channel from Akelmeg to Crossing Creek that attention will be principally directed, and not to the flood that scours the channel near the Roopnarain entrance."transitive

3. (transitive, veterinary medicine) To clear the digestive tract (of an animal) by administering medication that induces defecation or vomiting; to purge.Examples: "to scour a horse"transitive

4. (ambitransitive, veterinary medicine) To (cause livestock to) suffer from diarrhoea or dysentery.Examples: "If a lamb is scouring, do not delay treatment."; "It has been stated by trustworthy authorities that certain waters in the lias-formation possess scouring properties. […] Mr. Clarke likewise mentions two cases. "In one instance," he says, "a large piece of pasture-land was found to scour the cows kept upon it, to the great loss of the occupier, until he hit upon the expedient of cutting off the supply of spring-water from a neighbouring brook, and confining the supply to the rain-water held in the ditches,—the result of which has been that very little of the disorder has since appeared upon the land referred to.[…]""ambitransitive

5. (ambitransitive, obsolete) To cleanse (something) without rubbing.Examples: "It is reported, that in ſome Lakes, the Water is ſo Nitrous, as if Foule Cloathes be put into it, it ſcoureth them of it ſelfe: And if they ſtay any whit long, they moulder away. And the Scouring Vertue of Nitre is the more to be noted, becauſe it is a Body Cold; And wee ſee Warme Water ſcoureth better than Cold."; "Flanders soap is the substance which appeared to act in the most advantageous manner; it scowers very speedily, and gives wool a degree of whiteness which it is extremely difficult to produce by any other means."ambitransitiveobsolete