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skirr (SKUR) - v.i., to fly, sail, or move along rapidly. v.t., to search over hastily, to pass over rapidly. n., a whirring or grating sound, as of the wings of birds in flight; a tern.
The transitive sense came first -- the word seems to be an alteration (dating from the 1540s) of scour. I noticed it as the bird, which seems to have come from the wing sound. I suspect the biggest reason for its survival is its use by Shakespeare: "Send out more horses. Skirr the country round." —Macbeth.
---L.
The transitive sense came first -- the word seems to be an alteration (dating from the 1540s) of scour. I noticed it as the bird, which seems to have come from the wing sound. I suspect the biggest reason for its survival is its use by Shakespeare: "Send out more horses. Skirr the country round." —Macbeth.
---L.
