scourings

Noun

scouring (plural scourings)

1. The act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush, soap and water.
2. Diarrhea. (Now used only of livestock, though also sometimes used of humans into the 1600s.)
   • Another for a violent scouring. Take the Entrails of a Pullet, or great Chicken, all but the Gizzard, and mix with tbem of Spikenard one Ounce, ' and make him swallow it, and this will infallibly stay his Scouring, yea, though it be a Bloody-Flux.1720, E. R. (Gent.), The Experienc'd Farrier: Or Farring Compleated. Containing Every Thing that Belongs to a Compleat Horseman, page 332
3. Erosion by water, especially in watercourses.
   • It was also found that scouring had occurred in the bed of the mill lade, which passes between the first and second piers.1950 January, “Re-Opening of the Eyemouth Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 11