Found 2 items, similar to Scouring rush.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: scouring rush scouring rush n : evergreen erect horsetail with rough-edged stems; formerly used for scouring utensils [syn: rough horsetail, Equisetum hyemale , Equisetum hyemale robustum, Equisetum robustum ]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Scouring rush Scour \Scour\ (skour), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scoured; p. pr. & vb. n. Scouring.] [Akin to LG. sch["u]ren, D. schuren, schueren, G. scheuern, Dan. skure; Sw. skura; all possibly fr. LL. escurare, fr. L. ex + curare to take care. Cf. Cure.] 1. To rub hard with something rough, as sand or Bristol brick, especially for the purpose of cleaning; to clean by friction; to make clean or bright; to cleanse from grease, dirt, etc., as articles of dress. [1913 Webster] 2. To purge; as, to scour a horse. [1913 Webster] 3. To remove by rubbing or cleansing; to sweep along or off; to carry away or remove, as by a current of water; -- often with off or away. [1913 Webster] [I will] stain my favors in a bloody mask, Which, washed away, shall scour my shame with it. --Shak. [1913 Webster] 4. [Perhaps a different word; cf. OF. escorre, escourre, It. scorrere, both fr. L. excurrere to run forth. Cf. Excursion.] To pass swiftly over; to brush along; to traverse or search thoroughly; as, to scour the coast. [1913 Webster] Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain. --Pope. [1913 Webster] 5. To cleanse or clear, as by a current of water; to flush. If my neighbor ought to scour a ditch. --Blackstone. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Scouring barrel, a tumbling barrel. See under Tumbling. Scouring cinder (Metal.), a basic slag, which attacks the lining of a shaft furnace. --Raymond. Scouring rush. (Bot.) See Dutch rush, under Dutch. Scouring stock (Woolen Manuf.), a kind of fulling mill. [1913 Webster] Rush \Rush\, n. [OE. rusche, rische, resche, AS. risce, akin to LG. rusk, risch, D. & G. rusch; all probably fr. L. ruscum butcher's broom; akin to Goth. raus reed, G. rohr.] 1. (Bot.) A name given to many aquatic or marsh-growing endogenous plants with soft, slender stems, as the species of Juncus and Scirpus. [1913 Webster] Note: Some species are used in bottoming chairs and plaiting mats, and the pith is used in some places for wicks to lamps and rushlights. [1913 Webster] 2. The merest trifle; a straw. [1913 Webster] John Bull's friendship is not worth a rush. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster] Bog rush. See under Bog. Club rush, any rush of the genus Scirpus. Flowering rush. See under Flowering. Nut rush (a) Any plant of the genus Scleria, rushlike plants with hard nutlike fruits. (b) A name for several species of Cyperus having tuberous roots. Rush broom, an Australian leguminous plant (Viminaria denudata ), having long, slender branches. Also, the Spanish broom. See under Spanish. Rush candle, See under Candle. Rush grass, any grass of the genus Vilfa, grasses with wiry stems and one-flowered spikelets. Rush toad (Zo["o]l.), the natterjack. Scouring rush. (Bot.) Same as Dutch rush, under Dutch. Spike rush, any rushlike plant of the genus Eleocharis, in which the flowers grow in dense spikes. Sweet rush, a sweet-scented grass of Arabia, etc. (Andropogon sch[oe]nanthus), used in Oriental medical practice. Wood rush, any plant of the genus Luzula, which differs in some technical characters from Juncus. [1913 Webster]