scurry
Americanverb (used without object)
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scurries,
present (3rd person singular)
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scurried,
past participle, past
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scurrying
present participle
verb (used with object)
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scurries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scurried,
past participle, past
-
scurrying
present participle
noun
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scurries
plural
-
a scurrying rush.
the scurry of little feet on the stairs.
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a short run or race.
verb
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to move about or proceed hurriedly
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(intr) to whirl about
noun
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the act or sound of scurrying
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a brisk light whirling movement, as of snow
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horse racing a short race or sprint
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scurrysimple
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scurriessimple
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have scurriedperfect
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has scurriedperfect
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am scurryingprogressive
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are scurryingprogressive
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is scurryingprogressive
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have been scurryingperfect progressive
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has been scurryingperfect progressive
Past
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scurriedsimple
-
had scurriedperfect
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was scurryingprogressive
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were scurryingprogressive
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had been scurryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scurry
First recorded in 1800–10; extracted from hurry-scurry
Explanation
Scurry means to move quickly, at a frenzied pace, and often also implies the urge to hide. When you come upon a mouse in your house, chances are it will scurry away. Think of scurry this way — anytime you describe someone as scurrying, you're comparing them to a mouse. When you say troops scurried back behind their defensive lines, you're insulting them. When you say children scurry around searching for eggs during an Easter egg hunt, you think they're cute.
Vocabulary lists containing scurry
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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100 Great Words from "Fahrenheit 451" -- Part I Vocabulary
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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.
See Examples For:
When the bruin returned, it was met with tiny shocks from an electrified mat, which made him scurry away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2026
Or the opportunity to introduce him to some innocent bystander so they can scurry away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Once one side has been effectively tagged with responsibility, they’ll scurry for a way out.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2025
Some jolted forwards while others tried to scurry past the throngs of cameras and media equipment to grab one of the lucky yellow badges - their key to enter the court.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2024
I can’t help but think of him as we scurry along.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
A few minutes' walk from the Citizens Advice office, Shania is sitting at the edge of a park feeding her newborn baby, while her older child, a toddler, scurries nearby.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
But despite this convincing show, Romy is merely faking it, a detail we learn moments later when she scurries off to the privacy of her office.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2024
After exchanging words with a curiously hostile waiter, the Collector scurries down a shadowy Chandleresque mean street before taking a fatal turn into a nightmarish alley.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
When the pedestrian signal flashes a red hand, the squad bursts into laughter and scurries to the sidewalk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
The baby seal scurries toward the sea like a fat black inchworm.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Trading slowed to a crawl as brokers and clerks scurried to grab the money as it fell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Trilobites scurried across the seafloor among dense clusters of shelled mollusks.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2026
Only Forrest and Gustav were home at the time, and they scurried through the house to grab what they could.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025
After half an hour, Ireland struck again as Ulster flanker Nick Timoney shrugged off a tackle and scurried through for the second try.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
Then I scurried back to the living room.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
It sends a few scurrying for help, meanwhile, and leaves others vulnerable because they don’t know there’s anything they can do to prevent this from happening.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Index providers—the firms that compile market averages like the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, the Russell 1000 and so on—have been scurrying to accommodate these titanic deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
They call it “speed running,” slang for trying to beat a video game as quickly as possible, scurrying around hazards and taking shortcuts to skip through levels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
Flames and smoke erupted from a luxury hotel on Dubai's Palm, the landmark, palm tree-shaped development of land reclaimed from the sea, after a loud bang sent passers-by scurrying for cover.
From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026
Generally his roar sent whatever creature was facing it scurrying down the tunnel.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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.
