scour

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To clean, polish, or wash by scrubbing vigorously: scour a dirty oven.
2. v. To remove by scrubbing: scour grease from a pan.
3. v. To remove dirt or grease from (cloth or fibers) by means of a detergent.
4. v. To clean (wheat) before the milling process.
5. v. To clear (an area) by freeing of weeds or other vegetation.
6. v. To clear (a channel or pipe) by flushing.
7. v. To scrub something in order to clean or polish it.
8. v. To have diarrhea. Used of livestock.
9. n. A scouring action or effect.
10. n. A place that has been scoured, as by flushing with water.
11. n. A cleansing agent for wool.
12. n. Diarrhea in livestock.
13. v. To search through or over thoroughly: The detective scoured the scene of the crime for clues.
14. v. To range over (an area) quickly and energetically.
15. v. To range over or about an area, especially in a search.
16. v. To move swiftly; scurry.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To cleanse by hard rubbing; clean by friction; make clean and bright on the surface by rubbing; brighten.
2. To cleanse from grease and dirt by rubbing or scrubbing thoroughly with soap, washing, rinsing, etc.; cleanse by scrubbing and the use of certain chemical appliances: as, to scour blankets, carpets, articles of dress, etc.; to scour woolens.
3. To cleanse or clean out by flushing, or by a violent flood of water.
4. To purge thoroughly or with violence; purge drastically.
5. To cleanse thoroughly in any way; free entirely from impurities, or whatever obstructs or is undesirable; clear; sweep clear; rid.
6. To remove by scouring; cleanse away; obliterate; efface.
7. To run over and scatter; clean out.
8. To rub a surface for the purpose of cleansing it.
9. To cleanse cloth; remove dirt or grease from a texture.
10. To be purged thoroughly or violently; use strong purgatives.
11. n. The clearing action of a strong, swift current through a narrow channel; the removal of more or less of the material at the bottom of a river or tidal channel by the action of a current of water flowing over it with sufficient velocity to produce this effect.
12. n. A kind of diarrhea or dysentery among cattle or other animals; violent purging.
13. n. The material used in scouring or cleansing woolens, etc.
14. To run with celerity; scamper; scurry off or along.
15. To rove or range for the purpose of sweeping or taking something.
16. To run quickly over or along, especially in quest or as if in quest of something.
17. To pass through the soil without the latter adhering, the blade being thus rubbed bright: said of an agricultural implement.
18. n. The violent removal of sand by the wind, especially when it blows through a funnel-shaped pass or canon.

Wiktionary

1. v. To clean, polish, or wash something by scrubbing it vigorously.
2. v. To search an area thoroughly.
3. v. intransitive, veterinary medicine Of livestock, to suffer from diarrhea.
4. v. To move swiftly.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. 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. v. To purge.
3. v. 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.
4. v. To pass swiftly over; to brush along; to traverse or search thoroughly.
5. v. To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush.
6. v. To clean anything by rubbing.
7. v. To cleanse anything.
8. v. To be purged freely; to have a diarrhœa.
9. v. To run swiftly; to rove or range in pursuit or search of something; to scamper.
10. n. Diarrhœa or dysentery among cattle.
11. n. The act of scouring.
12. n. A place scoured out by running water, as in the bed of a stream below a fall.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. clean with hard rubbing
2. n. a place that is scoured (especially by running water)
3. v. examine minutely
4. v. rub hard or scrub
5. v. rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid