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:
Life moves pretty fast when your heart beats 1,200 times a minute, and the plot of “The Shrew Detective” moves briskly as Minerva and Tenacity scurry between clues.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Once one side has been effectively tagged with responsibility, they’ll scurry for a way out.
From Slate ● Oct. 1, 2025
The home side were the happier to scurry to the dressing room.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
How quickly or slowly can the chyrons listing adverse reactions scurry across your screen?
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2024
Trying to shake the images from my mind, I scurry down the hall to the bathroom.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
“It’s so intimidating to walk through here,” says an arena staffer as she scurries under the sight line of a video camera on a tall tripod.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
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
She finishes mopping and scurries down the stairs.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Workers in orange vests and hard hats scurried around the Catalina 7’s deck during the transfer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Other local residents scurried to take cover in basements.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
Jacob Bethell made an entertaining 55 and Brook a well-placed 53 for England, but Nepal's batting was on a par as they swept and scurried.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
Trilobites scurried across the seafloor among dense clusters of shelled mollusks.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2026
We scurried after our uncle to the cabin so we wouldn’t miss a word.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
When the possessive and paranoid Frank Ford runs into Margaret as she’s scurrying to meet his wife, Alice, he pointedly remarks, “I think, if your husbands were dead, you two would marry.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Even index-fund providers are scurrying to change their rules so they can stuff hot IPOs into indexes as fast as possible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 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
With Bielle-Biarrey having sent Ireland nervously scurrying back towards their line, Charles Ollivon knocked the ball on and let the men in green off the hook.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
She began dancing lightly on her feet, like she was scurrying across the floor in search of cheese.
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
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.
