Verb

(en verb)

To clean, polish, or wash something by scrubbing it vigorously.

He scoured the burner pans to remove the burnt spills.

To remove by rubbing or cleansing; to sweep along or off.

He scoured the burnt food from the pan.

* Shakespeare

[I will] stain my favors in a bloody mask, / Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it.

To search an area thoroughly.

They scoured the scene of the crime for clues.

(ambitransitive) To move swiftly over; to brush along.

* Alexander Pope

when swift Camilla scours the plain

* Dryden

So four fierce coursers, starting to the race, / Scour through the plain, and lengthen every pace.

(veterinary medicine) Of livestock, to suffer from diarrhea.

If a lamb is scouring , do not delay treatment.

(veterinary medicine) To purge.

to scour a horse

(obsolete) To cleanse.

* Francis Bacon

Warm water is softer than cold, for it scoureth better.

Verb

(rummag)

(nautical) To arrange (cargo, goods, etc.) in the hold of a ship; to move or rearrange such goods.

(nautical) To search a vessel for smuggled goods.

To search something thoroughly and with disregard for the way in which things were arranged.

* Howell

Hesearcheth his pockets, and taketh his keys, and so rummageth all his closets and trunks.

* (Matthew Arnold) (1822-1888)

What schoolboy of us has not rummaged his Greek dictionary in vain for a satisfactory account!

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Lexington

, title= Keeping the mighty honest , passage=British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to be ready to savage the mighty, or rummage through their bins. Elsewhere in Europe, government contracts and subsidies ensure that press barons will only defy the mighty so far.}}

To hastily search for something in a confined space and among many items by carelessly turning things over or pushing things aside.

* , chapter=8

, title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Philander went into the next room