scud1

 
Pronunciation: /skʌd/

verb (scuds, scudding, scudded)

  • 1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] move fast in a straight line because or as if driven by the wind: we lie watching the clouds scudding across the sky three small ships were scudding before a brisk breeze
  • 2 [with object] chiefly Scottish slap, beat, or spank: she scudded me across the head

noun

  • 1chiefly literary a mass of vapoury clouds or spray driven fast by the wind: the water is glassy under a scud of mist [mass noun]: the picturesque shoreline disappeared into low-cloud scud and rain
  • a driving shower of rain or snow; a gust: scuds of rain gave way to sun
  • [mass noun] the action of moving fast in a straight line when driven by the wind: the scud of the clouds before the wind
  • 2 (Scud or Scud missile) a type of long-range surface-to-surface guided missile able to be fired from a mobile launcher.
    [a code name assigned by NATO to a series of such missiles developed by the former Soviet Union]

Origin:

mid 16th century (as a verb): perhaps an alteration of the noun scut1, thus reflecting the sense 'race like a hare'