scud
/skʌd/adjective, verb, noun
scud is spelled S-C-U-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, scud means “Naked” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scud?
| Letters | 4: S-C-U-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,808th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scud?
Scud appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scud?
- /skʌd/
Scud has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-scud.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scud
- more scud comparative
- most scud superlative
- skud
- scuds present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- scudding participle, present
- scudded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scud mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
ScotlandslangNaked.
verb
- 1
To race along swiftly (especially used of clouds).
clouds scudding across the sky
- 2
To run, or be driven, before a high wind with few or no sails set.
- 3
To hit or slap.
- 4
To speed.
- 5
To skim flat stones so they skip along the water.
- 6
To scrape (skins) to remove hair etc. as part of the tanning process.
noun
- 1
The act of scudding.
- 2
Clouds or rain(s) (or snow, etc) driven by the wind.
- 3
A loose formation of small ragged cloud fragments (or fog) not attached to a larger higher cloud layer.
Small, ragged, low cloud fragments that are unattached to a larger cloud base and often seen with and behind cold fronts and thunderstorm gust fronts. Such clouds generally are associated with cool moist air, such as thunderstorm outflow.
- 4
A gust of wind.
- 5
A scab on a wound.
- 6
A small flight of larks, or other birds, less than a flock.
- 7
Any swimming amphipod, usually Gammarus
- 8
A swift runner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does scud come from?
First attested in 1530, of unknown origin but perhaps from Middle English scut (“rabbit, rabbit's tail”) or from Middle Dutch schudden (“to shake”), ultimately of Scandinavian origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).