scoured
Americanadjective
-
cleansed or polished by hard rubbing, as with a rough or abrasive material.
American society, through advertising, associates the scent of lemon with a freshly scoured kitchen.
-
cleared or dug out, as by the force of water, glaciers, etc..
Muskeget Channel, located between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, is a deeply scoured channel with strong tidal currents.
-
(of cotton, wool, etc.) cleaned or made free of impurities, debris, etc., by or as if by washing.
When dried, the scoured wool is usually carded and combed before the process of spinning.
-
cleared or made free of anything undesirable; cleansed.
It is from a scoured soul and a sober heart that prayer is engaged.
verb
Etymology
Origin of scoured
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In recent weeks, we scoured hundreds of articles from the Journal’s archives to trace that history—and show how the events of one 2001 morning continue to reverberate a quarter-century later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Gormlie, the founder and editor of Ocean Beach’s online newspaper, OB Rag, scoured media archives and spoke with residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
The number of people missing in the catastrophic flood that sliced through the border area between Nepal and Tibet neared 3,000 on Saturday, as rescuers scoured deep, leg-sucking mud for survivors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
As rescue teams scoured for survivors in the flood-ravaged districts, families moved between hospitals and police helpdesks, desperately hoping for word on those missing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
All of the salvaged figures were scoured by the swirling currents near the harbor mouth for centuries, and therefore have the smoothed-over, hollow-eyed look of creatures snatched, to their surprise, from the grip of oblivion.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
![]()
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.