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Sour vs Scour - What's the difference?

sour | scour |

As nouns the difference between sour and scour

is that sour is the sensation of a sour taste while scour is the removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.

As verbs the difference between sour and scour

is that sour is to make sour while scour is to clean, polish, or wash something by scrubbing it vigorously.

As an adjective sour

is having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste.

sour

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete) sowr

Adjective

(er)
  • Having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite.
  • Made rancid by fermentation, etc.
    • (rfex)
  • Tasting or smelling rancid.
    • (rfex)
  • Peevish or bad-tempered.
  • * Shakespeare
    • He was a scholar / Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, / But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
  • (of soil) Excessively acidic and thus infertile.
  • (of petroleum) Containing excess sulfur.
    • (rfex)
  • Unfortunate or unfavorable.
  • * Shakespeare
    • sour adversity
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 1 , author=Phil Dawkes , title=Sunderland 2 - 2 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The result may not quite give the Wearsiders a sweet ending to what has been a sour week, following allegations of sexual assault and drug possession against defender Titus Bramble, but it does at least demonstrate that their spirit remains strong in the face of adversity.}}

    Noun

  • The sensation of a sour taste.
    • (rfex)
  • A drink made with whiskey, lemon or lime juice and sugar.
    • (rfex)
  • (label) Any cocktail containing lemon or lime juice.
  • A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect.
    • (Edmund Spenser)

    Derived terms

    * laundry sour

    Verb

  • (label) To make sour.
  • (label) To become sour.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • So the sun's heat, with different powers, / Ripens the grape, the liquor sours .
  • (label) To make disenchanted.
  • * Shakespeare
    • To sour your happiness I must report, / The queen is dead.
  • (label) To become disenchanted.
  • (label) To make (soil) cold and unproductive.
    • (Mortimer)
  • To macerate (lime) and render it fit for plaster or mortar.

    • Anagrams

    * ----

    scour

    English

    Alternative forms

    * scower (obsolete)

    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.

    Derived terms

    * scourer

    Noun

    (-)
  • The removal of sediment caused by swiftly moving water.
    • Bridge scour may scoop out scour holes and compromise the integrity of the bridge.