Scouren

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To search a place or area very carefully and systematically ; to move swiftly or hurry along
2. To examine something exhaustively and meticulously ; to go at great speed or move with haste
3. To look through something with great care and attention ; to travel or proceed rapidly

Etymology: "Scouren" is a Middle Dutch and Middle Low German form of the verb meaning to scour, and it reached English through the cloth trade rather than through any Latin or French route. Scouring cloth in the medieval Low Countries meant washing it free of grease and dirt, and the verb spread into English as "scour" in the late Middle Ages, with "scouren" as the older Dutch form in the same family. The word "scouren" in modern Dutch is the infinitive of "schuren" or a variant spelling, and in English "scour" is generally traced to Old French "escurer" (from Latin "excurare", to clean thoroughly), with the Germanic cognate influence still debated. The Dutch and English words are related, but the precise pathway is not settled.