Jump To:

• stour
  stour
• Stour
  Stour

  noun

  a river in S England, in Kent, rising in the Weald and flowing N to the North Sea: separates the Isle of Thanet from the mainland

stour

American  

[stoor] / stʊər /

noun

1. British Dialect.

   1. tumult; confusion.

   2. a storm.

2. British Dialect. blowing dust or a deposit of dust.

3. Archaic. armed combat; battle.

4. British Dialect. a time of tumult.

---

Stour ¹ British  

/ staʊə /

noun

1. Also called: Great Stour. a river in S England, in Kent, rising in the Weald and flowing N to the North Sea: separates the Isle of Thanet from the mainland

2. any of several smaller rivers in England

---

stour ² British  

/ staʊə, stuːr /

noun

1. turmoil or conflict

2. dust; a cloud of dust

---

Etymology

Origin of stour

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French estour battle < Germanic; akin to storm

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stour Stour

And aye an' while we nearer draw To whaur the kirkton lies alaw, Mair neebours, comin' saft an' slaw Frae here an' there, The thicker thrang the gate, an' caw The stour in air.

From A Lowden Sabbath Morn by Robert Louis Stevenson

Forby connects the Norfolk word stour, stiff, inflexible, applied to standing corn, with this word, which he says is Lowland Scotch, and derives them both from Sui.-G. stoer, stipes.

From Notes and Queries, Number 201, September 3, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by George Bell

There was a short interval of suspense, the stour and bicker of the mêlée faintly heard, but invisible behind the bank of smoke and dust.

From The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80 by Archibald Forbes

An awfu' fecht it was to see, A fecht baith fell an' dour, sirs, For ere the tuilzie weel began The glen was fu' o' stour, sirs.

From The Auld Doctor and other Poems and Songs in Scots by David Rorie

The cudgel in my nieve did shake, Each bristled hair stood like a stake, When wi' an eldritch stour, quaick—quaick— Amang the springs, Awa ye squatter'd like a drake, On whistling wings.

From The Mysteries of All Nations Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales by James Grant

Helicopters, dog units and members of the public began scouring the area, close to the River Stour on the Suffolk-Essex border.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Helicopters, dog units and members of the public had been scouring the area, close to the River Stour on the Suffolk-Essex border.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

One of its founders and trustees, John Hall, said the group had been sampling water in the River Stour for three years and had adapted their process for the children.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Residents at Iford Bridge Home Park near Christchurch, where the levels of the River Stour had been rising, were evacuated on Wednesday.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026

But the distances suit none of these sites, and no Roman remains have any where been found, between the Stour and Castor, sufficient to justify an alteration of the numerals.

From Old English Chronicles by Various

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---