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• stour
  stour

  noun
• 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.

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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

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stour ² British  

/ staʊə, stuːr /

noun

1. turmoil or conflict

2. dust; a cloud of dust

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Etymology

Origin of stour

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stour Stour

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 Forbes, Archibald

Ther was never a freake wone foot wolde fle, but still in stour dyd stand, Heawyng on yche othar, whylle the myghte dre, with many a balfull brande.

From Ballads of Scottish Tradition and Romance Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Third Series by Sidgwick, Frank

Wee, modest, crimson-tippèd flower, Thou'st met me in an evil hour; For I must crush amongst the stour Thy slender stem.

From The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare by Ellacombe, Henry Nicholson

The cudgel in my nieve did shake, Each bristled hair stood like a stake, When wi' an eldritch stour, 'quaick! quaick!'

From Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 2 by Mackay, Charles

Said he: "Thou seest I am rich in spending-silver, for I have been paid the ransom of three knights whom I took in sharp stour last autumn."

From The Sundering Flood by Morris, May

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

The famous work depicts a rural scene near the River Stour in Flatford, but it was actually painted in Constable's London studio.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 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

In Manningtree, where more than 100 people swim regularly in the tidal Stour estuary, some swimmers reported falling sick, before they decided to apply for bathing water status.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2024

In the somewhat solemn and simple "Valley Farm," painted in 1835, two years before his death, Constable returned to the scenes of his boyhood, to Willy Lett's house on the bank of the Stour.

From Constable by Hind, C. Lewis (Charles Lewis)