scrutine 
tri',1 tin in in. scrutiny: see ;(///.] To make 
mi investigation or examination; investigate. 
They laid their handes on the booke and were sworne, 
and departed tocruline of the matter by inquirie amongst 
thni.sdvi-s. Greene, Quip for an Upstart Courtier. 
scrutineer (skro-ti-uer'), [< scrutin-y + 
-eer.] One who scrutinizes; specifically, one 
who acts as an examiner of votes, as at an elec- 
tion, etc., to see if they are valid. 
Is my Lord Chamberlain, and the scrutineers that suc- 
ceed him, to tell us when the King and the Duke of \ ork 
are abused? I>r,jden, V ind. of Duke of Guise. 
Only the votes pronounced bad by the bureau in pres- 
ence of representative scrutineers are preserved, in case 
these should be called for during the "Session pour rtrt- 
flcatiou des Puuv.iirs." Encyc. Bnt., III. 291. 
scrutinize (skrd'ti-mz), .; pret. and pp. scru- 
tinized, ppr. scrutinizing. [< *<-riitin-y + -i~e.] 
I (raws. To subject to scrutiny; observe or m- 
scrutinize IBBIU u-ui*;, , t">= 
tinted, ppr. scrutinizing. [< serum 
I (raws. To subject to scrutiny; ob&-- 
vestigate closely; examine or inquire into criti- 
cally; regard narrowly. 
As all good history deals with the motives of men's ac- 
tions, so the peculiar business ... of religious history is 
to scrutinize their religious motives. 
Warburton, Divine Legation, v. 
We scrutinise the dates 
Of long-past human things. 
M. Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. 
= Syn. Explore, etc. See search. 
II. intrans. To make scrutiny. 
Every thing about him is, on some account or other, de- 
clared to be good ; and he thinks it presumption to scru- 
tinize into its defects, or to endeavour to Imagine how it 
might be better. Goldsmith, Hist. Earth, in. 
Also spelled scrutinise. 
scrutinizer (skro'ti-ra-zer), n. [< scrutinize 4 
-cr 1 .] One who scrutinizes; one who examines 
with critical care; a scrutineer. Also spelled 
scrutiniser. Tir-i.u 
scrutinizingly (skro'ti-m-zing-h), ad*. With 
due scrutiny or observation; searchingly. Also 
spelled scrutinisingly. 
SCTUtinOUS (skro'ti-nus), a. [< scrutin-y 4 
-ous.] Closely inquiring or examining; scru- 
tinizing; carefully critical. 
Love has an intellect that runs through all 
The scrutinous sciences. 
Middleton, Changeling, ni. 3. 
But age is froward, uneasy, serotinous, 
Hard to be pleased. Sir F. Denham, Old Age, in. 
scrutinously (skro'ti-nus-li), adv. With strict 
or sharp scrutiny; searchingly. Imp. Viet. 
scrutiny (skro'ti-ni), .; pi scrutinies (-niz). 
[= OF. scrutine, scrutiny, P. scrutjn, scrutiny, 
balloting, = Sp. Pg. escrutinio = It. seruttimo, 
scrutinio, < LL. serutinium, a search, an inquiry, 
< L. scrutari, search or examine thoroughly, 
Srob. orig. search among rubbish, < scruta (= 
r ypi'Tti), rubbish, broken trash. Cf. AS. scru- 
dinan, examine. Cf. scrutable, scrutine, etc.] 
1. Close investigation or examination ; minute 
inquiry ; critical examination. 
Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view 
And narrower scrutiny. Mulon, e. &., IV. bis. 
2 Specifically () In the early church, the 
examination in Lent of catechumens, including 
instruction in and questions upon the creed, 
accompanied with prayers, exorcisms, and other 
ceremonies, prior to their baptism on Easter 
day. The days of scrutiny were from three to seven in 
number, according to different customs, the last usually 
occurring on the Wednesday before Passion Sunday. (6) 
One of the three methods used in the Roman 
Catholic Church for electing a Pope. In it each 
cardinal who is present at the conclave casts a vote in 
strict seclusion from his colleagues; the votes are then 
collected, and if two thirds plus one are for the same can- 
didate he is declared elected. The other canonical modes 
are acclamation and accession. 
3. In canon law, a ticket or little paper billet 
on which a vote is written. 4. An examina- 
tion by a competent authority of the votes 
given or ballots cast at an election, for the pur- 
pose of rejecting those that are vitiated or im- 
perfect, and thus correcting the poll. 
The first scrutiny for Mr. Sparkes and Mr. Boileau, con- 
trary to the method of convocation, ran 53 affirmations, 
and 118 against him. 
Dr. Sykes, in Letters of Eminent Men, I. 40. 
= Syn. 1. Investigation, Inspection, etc. (see examination), 
sifting. See search, v. 
scrutinyt (skro'ti-ni), . t. [< scrutiny, .] To 
scrutinize. Johnson. (Imp. Diet.) 
scruto (skro'to), . In theaters, a movable trap 
or doorway, constructed of strips of wood or 
whalebone, which springs into place after be- 
ing used for quick appearances and disappear- 
ances. 
scrutoiret, scrutoret, . Obsolete erroneous 
forms of ncrilnin- fur i-xcritoire. 
5429 
A citizen had advertised a reward for the discovery ;>f a 
person who had stolen sixty guineas out of his scrutiun. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 23,. 
Bid her open the middle great drawer of Ridgeway's 
serutore in my closet. Swift, Letter, Sept, 13, 1 , 2b. 
scruzet (skroz), v. t. [Also scruse; a var. of 
scrooge, scrouge: see scrouge.] To crowd ; com- 
press; crush; squeeze. 
Whose sappy liquor, that with fulnesse sweld, 
Into her cup she teruzd with daintie breach 
Of her fine fingers. Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 06. 
SCryH (skri), c. (. [By apheresis from ascry, i-s- 
cry, descry.] To descry. Also skry. 
They both arose, and at him loudly cryde, 
As it had bene two shepheards curres had scryde 
A ravenous Wolfe amongst the scattered flockes. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. xii. 38. 
scry 2 (skri), v. [Also skry; < UE.*scryen, < OF. 
wrier, F. eerier (= Pr. esgridar = It. sgridare), 
cry out,< es- (< L. ejc), out, + crier, cry: see cry.] 
I.t intrans. To cry out. 
II trans. To proclaim; announce publicly 
or by way of advertisement: as, to scry a sale. 
[Scotch.] 
scry 2 t (skri), , [Also skry; < MK scrye; < 
scry 2 , .] 1. Aery. 
Whyche me semyth better than alle the noyse of houn- 
dys the blastes of hornys, and the scrye of foulis that hun- 
ters, fawkeners, & foulers can make. 
Juliana Berners, Treatyse of Fysshynge, p. 5. 
And so, with the sen/, he was fayne to flye in his shirte 
barefote and barelegged, ... in great dout and feare of 
taking by the frenchmen. 
Berners, tr. of Froissarfs Ohron., I. cclxxn. 
2. A flock of wild fowl. 
scrymet, See scrime. 
scrvnet, See scrine. 
SCUChont, . A Middle Engli sh form of scutcheon . 
SCUd (skud), r. ; pret. and pp. scudded, ppr. scud- 
ding. [< Dan. skyde, shoot, push, shove, scud 
(ong. *skude, as in comp. skud-aar, leap-year, 
etc.), = Sw. sfco,leap; secondary forms of BW. 
skjuta = Icel. skjota, shoot, slip, or scud away, 
abscond, = AS. sceotan, shoot: see shoot, and 
cf. scooft, scuddle^, scuttle*, v., from the same 
source. The alleged AS. scudan, ' run quickly, 
'flee,' does not occur in that sense; it occurs 
but once, prop, "scuddan = OS. skuddian, shake, 
and belongs to another group, only remotely 
connected with scud, namely shudder, etc.: see 
shudder.] I. intrans. 1. To run swiftly; shoot 
or fly along with haste. 
Sometime he scuds far off, and there he stares. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 301. 
O how she scudded ! O sweet scud, how she tripped ! 
B. Jonson, Case is Altered, iv. 4. 
Beside a pleasant dwelling ran a brook, 
Scudding along a narrow channel. Bryant, bella. 
2. Naut., to run before a gale with little or no 
sail set. 
We scudded, or run before the Wind very swift, tho' 
only with our bare Poles : that is, without any Sail abroad. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 415. 
3. To throw thin flat stones so that they skip 
over the surface of water. [Scotch.] 4. In 
tanning, to remove remaining hairs, dirt, etc., 
from (skins or hides) with a hand-knife after 
depilation. 
II. trans. 1. To pass over quickly. 
His lessening flock 
In snowy groups diffusive scud the vale. 
Shenstone, Ruined Abbey. 
The startled red-deer scuds the plain. 
Scott, Cadyow Castle. 
2. To beat or chastise, especially on the bare 
buttocks; skelp; spank. [Scotch.] 
scud (skud), n. [< scud, v.] 1. The act of 
scudding; a driving along; a running or rush- 
ing with speed or precipitation. 2. Small de- 
tached clouds driven rapidly along under a 
mass of storm-cloud: a common accompani- 
ment of rain. 
The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were 
breaking asunder, the heavier volumes gathering in black 
masses about the horizon, while the lighter scud still 
hurried above the water, or eddied among the tops of the 
mountains like broken flights of birds hovering round 
their roosts. J. F. Cooper, Last of Mohicans, xix. 
. 
3 A slight flying shower. Halliwell. [Prov. 
Eng 14 A small number of larks, less than 
a flock. [Prov. Eng.] 5. A swift runner; a 
scudder. [Now school slang.] 
"I say " said East as soon as he got his wind, looking 
with much increased respect at Tom, " you am t a bad 
scud not by no means." 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 5. 
6. A smart stroke with the open hand ; a skelp ; 
a slap: as, to give one a scud on the face. 
[Scotch.] 7. A beach-flea'or sand-flea: some 
small crustacean, as an isopod or amphipod. 
scuff 
one of tin 1 largest sm.ls i> QaHtmorut ontatut 
New England coast. 
SCUddawn (sku-dAn'),. Young herring. [Lo- 
cal, Irish.] 
SCUdder (skml'er), . [< *cd + -W 1 .] One 
who or that which scuds. 
SCUddick (skud'ik), n. [E. dial, also scuttuck; 
prob. < scut, short (see scuft), + dim. -ock.] \. 
Anything of small value. BaMwell. [Prov. 
Eng.] 2. A shilling. [Slang, Eng.] 
scudding-stone (skud'ing-ston), . A thin flat 
stone that can be made to skim the surface ot 
a body of water. [Scotch.] 
scuddle 1 (skud'l), v. i. ; pret, ami pp. scuddled, 
ppr. sciiddliiii/. [A weakened form of scuttle*, 
after the related scud: see scuttle*.] Same as 
scuttle*. Bailey, 1731. 
scuddle' 2 (skud'l), r.; pret. and pp. scuddled, 
ppr. scudilling. [Appar. a back-formation, < 
scudler: see scudler.] I. intrans. To act as a 
kitchen-drudge. Jamieson. 
II. trans. To cleanse; wash. Jamieson. 
[Scotch in both uses.] 
scuddle 2 (skud'l), . [Cf. scuddle*, v.] A 
kitchen-drudge; a scullion. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
scudi, . Plural of scudo. 
scudler, SCUdlar (skud'ler, -lar), . [Prob. a 
var. of sculler 2 . Hence scuddle 2 , cleanse.] A 
scullion. Jamieson. [Scotch.] 
SCUdo (sko'do), n. ; pi. scudi (-di). [It, (= F. ecu : 
see ecu), a coin 
so named, lit. a 
shield, so called 
as bearing the 
heraldic shield 
of the prince by 
whom it was is- 
sued; < L. scu- 
tum, a shield: 
see scute 1 .] 1. 
A silver coin 
current in va- 
rious parts of 
Italy during the 
eighteenth and 
nineteenthcen- 
turies. Its val- 
ue has varied 
slightly in differ- 
ent states, but has 
usually been about 
4s. (about 98 cents). 
The scudo of Sar- 
dinia in 1817 was 
worth 48. Ojd. 
(about 97 cents); 
of Naples, in 1818 
and 1850, 4. IJd. 
(about 99 cents); 
of the Papal States, 
in 1845 and 1859, 48. 
4Jd. (about 81.05). 
The scudo was oc- 
casionally struck 
in gold. The gold 
scudo of Pius IX. 
(1869) was worth 4s. 
3Jd. (about $1.03). 
2. The space 
inclosed within the outer rim of the bezel of a 
ring; also, a bezel in sense 3 (6), used espe- 
cially for rings of classical antiquity m which 
there is an engraved device upon the metal 
itself. See bezel, 3 (6). 
scuet, '. An obsolete spelling of skew. 
scuff 1 (skuf), v. [< Sw. sknffa = Dan sA-itff, 
push, shove, jog; a secondary form of the verb 
represented by E. shore: see shove. Hence 
freq. scuffle^, xltuffle.] I. intrans. To walk with- 
out raising the feet from the ground or floor; 
shuffle : rarely used of an analogous action ot 
the hands. 
A good masseur ought to be able to keep both hands 
eoinsr at the same time, one contracting as the other 
flaxes', without scraping, scuffing, shaking the head or 
turning a hair. Buck's Handbook of Med. Set., IV . 659. 
II trans. To graze slightly. [Scotch.] 2. 
To roughen the surface of by hard usage ; spoil 
the gloss, polish, or finish of. [Colloq.] 
How to restore scuffed j^ 6 ^ Trihune Dec, 12, 1&79. 
scuff' 2 (skuf), , [A corruption (also in another 
corrupt form scruff) of scuft: see scuft.] Same 
as scuft and scruff*. [Prov. Eng.] 
One . . was seized by the scuff of the neck, and literally 
hurled' on the table in front. . 
Bulver, What will he Do with it? x. .. 
" John Fry you big villain !" I cried, with John hanging 
uo in the air by the sew/ of his neckcloth. 
It. D. Blackmtrre, Lorna Doone, xxix. 
scuff 3 t (skuf ).. [Cf. -r/i, scruff*.] A scurf; 
a scale. 
Scudo of Pope Gregory XVI.- British 
Museum. (Size of original.) 
