scud

Noun · Verb

US[skuhd]/skʌd/1 syllable

Open English WordNet

run or move very quickly or hastily“She dashed into the yard”Synonyms: dart dash scoot flash shootMore general rush, hotfootMore specific plungeSimilar tear, shoot
run before a galeSynonyms: rackMore general sail

the act of moving along swiftly (as before a gale)Synonyms: scuddingType of speed, speeding

Word of the day · Oct 19About this word

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Scud (skŭd), intransitive verb [past tense & past participle Scudded; present participle & verbal noun Scudding.]

Origin: Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. √159. See Shoot.

1. To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something.

The first nautilus that scudded upon the glassy surface of warm primeval oceans.— Isaac Taylor

The wind was high; the vast white clouds scudded over the blue heaven.— Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield

2. Nautical To be driven swiftly, or to run, before a gale, with little or no sail spread.

Scud transitive verb

To pass over quickly. rare William Shenstone

Scud noun

1. The act of scudding; a driving along; a rushing with precipitation.

2. Loose, vapory clouds driven swiftly by the wind.

Borne on the scud of the sea.— Henry W. Longfellow

The scud was flying fast above us, throwing a veil over the moon.— Sir Samuel White Baker

3. A slight, sudden shower. dialect (England) Thomas Wright

4. Zoology A small flight of larks, or other birds, less than a flock. dialect (England)

5. Zoology Any swimming amphipod crustacean.

Storm scud. See the Note under Cloud.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54