"scouring" in the noun sense
1. scouring
moving over territory to search for something
"scouring the entire area revealed nothing"
2. scrub, scrubbing, scouring
the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water
"scouring" in the verb sense
1. scour
examine minutely
"The police scoured the country for the fugitive"
2. scrub, scour
clean with hard rubbing
"She scrubbed his back"
3. scour, abrade
rub hard or scrub
"scour the counter tops"
4. flush, scour, purge
rinse, clean, or empty with a liquid
"flush the wound with antibiotics"
"purge the old gas tank"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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