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What is "scurry"

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scurry
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
scurry
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
about
▪ The parents were scurrying about like ants.
▪ He loved catching bugs in jars and would peer in through the glass, mesmerized, to watch them scurry about.
▪ There were a lot of men in boiler-suits and yellow hats scurrying about, and Blondel found no difficulty in blending in.
▪ At the Bibelot book shop, I scurry about from aisle to aisle.
▪ She could almost hear her brain scurrying about in confusion, computer-fashion, seeking familiar data to confirm location.
▪ A couple of chipmunks scurried about.
along
▪ The workers, scurrying along the tracks through the undergrowth, are blind and sterile.
▪ The top of the wall was in better repair closer to the house and he scurried along it.
▪ They zigzagged around tree trunks and saw the dark shapes scurrying along out of the corner of their eyes.
▪ Behind comes a column of workers, scurrying along a dozen or so abreast, many of them carrying larvae.
▪ We scurried along the ditch, doubled over.
▪ September opened with high winds that sent the leaves scurrying along the pavements and brought decayed branches crashing down in Sherwood Forest.
▪ Leaves danced curlicues on the pavement as the wind ripped them from the plane trees and sent them scurrying along the ground.
around
▪ In the dark, she imagined red-eyed rats scurrying around her, lashing her with their tails.
▪ Lots of scurrying around and no payoff.
▪ Everyone scurrying around in a kind of frantic muddled order.
▪ Broomfield picks up a rock to reveal some very unappealing creatures scurrying around in the Hollywood underground.
▪ His wife scurried around serving ersatz coffee and comforting a baby born four days previously.
▪ The foolish trader is tempted by a bargain price and then scurries around trying to find a buyer for his bargains.
▪ This scurrying around like troglodytes is enough to depress anyone.
away
▪ The witches were ushered to the area in front of the thrones, and then Millie scurried away.
▪ Men were running up to him and then scurrying away.
▪ Blew about twenty families to bits and sent a shocking number of people scurrying away without their parents or their children.
▪ Even the candle was used to singe those scurrying away.
▪ Everywhere they came upon beetles, spiders and small lizards which scurried away as they pushed through the fibrous, resistant heather.
▪ Sometimes small animals leaped out and scurried away.
▪ A handful of figures scurried away, otherwise the square was empty.
▪ One shadow erupted in a flurry of bubbles and a flick of a tail as a PukPuk or crocodile scurried away.
back
▪ He scurried back to the kitchen to galvanise the staff into action.
▪ Manning scurried back to his bartending.
▪ He turned off the lights and scurried back to the theatre.
▪ I took the package from the bottom shelf of the cupboard and scurried back down the hall.
▪ Footballers and all other competitive sports people stay out but cricketers scurry back inside just when it is getting interesting.
▪ Feeling frightened, he scurried back up the stairs and sank bewildered into his armchair.
off
▪ These days it isn't just those health-food cranks who are scurrying off to buy their brown wholemeal loaves.
▪ Upending rocks in the muddy cove, I uncover fighting green crabs that rise up startled and scurry off into the muck.
▪ Then he nudged Wa again, and sent him scurrying off down a nearby alley into the heart of the city.
▪ Lots of streetlamps were busted, his headlights making people scurry off the street, eyes glowing like cats.
■ NOUN
people
▪ Blew about twenty families to bits and sent a shocking number of people scurrying away without their parents or their children.
▪ Lots of streetlamps were busted, his headlights making people scurry off the street, eyes glowing like cats.
▪ Knots of people scurried in the snowy rain.
▪ The weather is the smallest worry; a blizzard or two is bound to send people scurrying to their travel agents eventually.
■ VERB
send
▪ September opened with high winds that sent the leaves scurrying along the pavements and brought decayed branches crashing down in Sherwood Forest.
▪ Hours later, three short bursts of automatic gunfire sent police scurrying for cover Wednesday morning.
▪ Something must have happened; something alarming enough to send the Prince scurrying from the ball.
▪ Traders said intensifying worries about falling prices and excess supply have sent investors scurrying from the semiconductor sector.
▪ The wind shoved the canoe off the peak and sent it scurrying.
▪ I was sent scurrying, as you can imagine.
▪ The rain sent many scurrying for cover and raincoats as they began exploring the city.
▪ The weather is the smallest worry; a blizzard or two is bound to send people scurrying to their travel agents eventually.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ His aides scurried about, murmuring to each other in Russian.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At the Bibelot book shop, I scurry about from aisle to aisle.
▪ He was imagining them as they scurried to and fro like rats, like rabbits, when farmers burnt the stubble off their fields.
▪ It is recognition of this reality that has set the nations of the world scurrying to respond.
▪ Knots of people scurried in the snowy rain.
▪ The witches were ushered to the area in front of the thrones, and then Millie scurried away.
▪ They hear a scurrying in the tree above their heads.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Scurry

Scurry \Scur"ry\, n. Act of scurrying; hurried movement.

Scurry

Scurry \Scur"ry\, v. i. [Cf. Scur, Skirr.] To hasten away or along; to move rapidly; to hurry; as, the rabbit scurried away.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
scurry

1810, perhaps from hurry-scurry (1732), a reduplication of hurry (v.). As a noun, 1823, from the verb.

Wiktionary
scurry

vb. To run away with quick light steps, to scamper.

Related phrases:
WordNet
scurry

  1. n. rushing about hastily in an undignified way [syn: scamper, scramble]

  2. v. to move about or proceed hurriedly; "so terrified by the extraordinary ebbing of the sea that they scurried to higher ground" [syn: scamper, skitter, scuttle]

  3. [also: scurried]

Gazetteer
Scurry -- U.S. County in Texas
Population (2000): 16361
Housing Units (2000): 7112
Land area (2000): 902.498379 sq. miles (2337.459972 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 5.034163 sq. miles (13.038421 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 907.532542 sq. miles (2350.498393 sq. km)
Located within: Texas (TX), FIPS 48
Location: 32.691737 N, 100.964154 W
Headwords:
Scurry
Scurry, TX
Scurry County
Scurry County, TX
Wikipedia
Scurry

Scurry may refer to:

  • Scurry, Texas
  • Scurry County, Texas
  • Scurry driving, an equestrian sport
  • USS Scurry (AM-304)

Usage examples of "scurry".

He lowered Billie to the floor and watched her scurry out of the room.

The door slammed behind the obese man, and Dora scurried to fetch what Ruark had requested, setting out fruits, bread, and meats, while she brewed a pot of strong tea.

Her brusque command galvanized the others who found themselves having to scurry after her as she strode off.

I found out in three minutes flat when captain Bullen appeared on deck, an anxious-looking agent scurrying along behind him.

Lo Manto dodged and scurried past the slow-moving clusters, closing in on the tiring Pullman, who was out of shape and slowed by a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit.

Our praetor-governor Nerva scurried off to Sicily and began to manumit the Italians, who number about a quarter of the total grain slaves.

A whine of fire brought Maslin back to his surroundings, and he scurried back behind the tent.

By the time he got going again Merel had taken a long lead, but he scurried after her, determined to catch up.

His voice was calm and steady as he spoke briefly to his runners, sending one scurrying to find Acton and Fandwick on the left flank, the other to Messaline and Ginnisson on the right.

He had to go further back, past the scurrying lemur lives and the slimy and raw slug lives, feeling back millions of years to the eyeless, mouthless beginnings of the cell.

Far below him was a broad street, thronged with darting multiped vehicles and scurrying people.

I scurried beneath in the nick of time, grateful once again to see the black-and-white hulk of Nonsuch House rising against the sky to meet me.

But after he lifted the gown over her head, she scurried away, facing him in corset, pantalettes, and petticoat.

As he watched, Pattera tucked the shuttle into a leather bracket on the loom frame and, wrapping a brown shawl around her, scurried toward the door.

She turned, and Cerryl watched blankly as Pattera scurried back down the alley, the shawl over her nightdress flapping as her bare feet padded on the stones.