Scoured is the past tense of scour, meaning to search thoroughly or to remove dirt or material by rubbing or cleansing. It implies a thorough, sometimes aggressive, cleaning or examination, often leaving the surface polished or free of impurities. In many contexts, it also conveys extensive investigation or surveying of an area.
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"The archaeologists scoured the riverbank for artifacts."
"After the storm, volunteers scoured the beach to collect debris."
"The detective scoured the records to uncover any missing clues."
"Engineers scoured the metal surface to remove rust and contaminants."
Scoured derives from scour, which comes from Old French escourer, and ultimately from Vulgar Latin excurare, meaning to rub out or clean. The root idea is abrasion or cleansing across a surface. In English, scour originally referred to cleansing with abrasives or scraping, then broadened to mean searching boldly or combing thoroughly through information or locations. The word has retained its core sensory of forceful action—whether removing debris, rust, or dirt, or metaphorically combing data or records. First attested in Middle English as scorch or scorren variants, the modern form scour evolved through the Norman influence on English spelling and pronunciation. By the 16th century, scour began to take on the sense of cleaning intensely, while “scoured” as past tense and adjective forms expanded into contexts like exploration and investigation. The transitive verb sense intensified in maritime and mining contexts, where crews would scour the hull or the mines for any sign of contamination or treasure. In contemporary usage, scoured can describe physical cleaning, exhaustive search, or thorough verification of information, with idiomatic phrases such as “scoured the area” and “scoured the records.”
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "scoured" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "scoured"
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Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Pronounce as /skɔːrd/ in US (roughly “skawrd”), with primary stress on the first and only syllable. In careful speech you’ll hear an /ɔː/ vowel like in
Common mistakes include elongating the vowel too short, producing /skɜːrd/ or /skɔːrd/ with a too-fronted tongue, and adding an /ɪ/ or /ə/ into the vowel. Correct practice: keep a rounded, back-mid vowel /ɔː/ and avoid a triphthong. Ensure the /r/ is pronounced if you’re using an rhotic accent; in non-rhotic accents, the /r/ may be silent or linked to a following vowel in connected speech.
In US English, /skɔrd/ with rhotic /r/. In UK English, often /skɔːd/, with non-rhotic influence: the /r/ is less pronounced and may become a non-rhotic vowel before a consonant. In Australian English, /skɔːd/ similar to UK, but with slightly flatter vowel quality and a stronger non-rhotic tendency in careful speech. In all, the ending is a single closed syllable; the critical distinction is rhotacized in US vs non-rhotics in UK/AU.
The challenge lies in the vowel quality of /ɔː/ and the /r/ combo: in rhotic accents you must hold the vowel before a fast /r/ without turning it into a diphthong, while non-rhotic accents reduce the /r/ sound and may alter surrounding vowels. Additionally, the bilabial onset /sk/ requires precise closure and quick transition into the back rounded /ɔː/. These require controlled lip rounding, tongue retraction, and steady breathing to avoid a clipped or misarticulated sound.
A key tip is to keep the /sk/ cluster tight and the /ɔː/ vowel centered in the mouth before the /r/. Avoid turning it into /skoʊrd/ or /skɔːrd/ with lengthened or stressed vowel inconsistencies. Practice with minimal pairs like ‘scourd’ (dialectal) vs ‘scored’ to hear the subtle vowel difference, and use a light, quick /r/ in rhotic accents to maintain a crisp, clear final consonant.
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