| sour | A sour or acid substance; whatever produces a painful effect. 1. To cause to become sour; to cause to turn from sweet to sour; as, exposure to the air sours many substances. "So the sun's heat, with different powers, Ripens the grape, the liquor sours." (Swift) 2. To make cold and unproductive, as soil. 3. To make unhappy, uneasy, or less agreeable. "To sour your happiness I must report, The queen is dead." (Shak) 4. To cause or permit to become harsh or unkindly. "Souring his cheeks." "Pride had not sour'd nor wrath debased my heart." (Harte) 5. To macerate, and render fit for plaster or mortar; as, to sour lime for business purposes. Origin: AS. Srian to sour, to become sour. 1. Having an acid or sharp, biting taste, like vinegar, and the juices of most unripe fruits; acid; tart. "All sour things, as vinegar, provoke appetite." (Bacon) 2. Changed, as by keeping, so as to be acid, rancid, or musty, turned. 3. Disagreeable; unpleasant; hence; cross; crabbed; peevish; morose; as, a man of a sour temper; a sour reply. "A sour countenance." "He was a scholar . . . Lofty and sour to them that loved him not, But to those men that sought him sweet as summer." (Shak) 4. Afflictive; painful. "Sour adversity." 5. Cold and unproductive; as, sour land; a sour marsh. <botany> Sour dock, the edible acid fruit of an Australian tree (Owenia venosa); also, the tree itself, which furnished a hard reddish wood used by wheelwrights. Synonym: Acid, sharp, tart, acetous, acetose, harsh, acrimonious, crabbed, currish, peevish. Origin: OE. Sour, sur, AS. Sr; akin to D. Zuur, G. Sauer, OHG. Sr, Icel. Srr, Sw. Sur, Dan. Suur, Lith. Suras salt, Russ. Surovui harsh, rough. Cf. Sorrel, the plant. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| source emission reduction plan | (SERP) A contingency plan developed to reduce emissions during an air quality emergency. (05 Dec 1998) |
| souring | <botany> Any sour apple. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sourish | Somewhat sour; moderately acid; as, sourish fruit; a sourish taste. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| soursop | <botany> The large succulent and slightly acid fruit of a small tree (Anona muricata) of the West Indies; also, the tree itself. It is closely allied to the custard apple. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sourt | 1. A sudden or violent ejection or gushing of a liquid, as of water from a tube, orifice, or other confined place, or of blood from a wound; a jet; a spirt. 2. A shoot; a bud. 3. A sudden outbreak; as, a spurt of jealousy. <botany> Spurt grass, a rush fit for basket work. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sourwood | <botany> The sorrel tree. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |