Definition of "stour"

stour¹

/ˈstɔː/

adjective
comparative more stour, superlative most stour
1. (now rare outside dialects) Tall; large; stout.
2. (now rare outside dialects) Strong; powerful; hardy; robust; sturdy.
3. (now rare outside dialects) Bold; audacious.
4. (now rare outside dialects) Rough in manner; stern; austere; ill-tempered.
5. (now rare outside dialects, of a voice) Rough; hoarse; deep-toned; harsh.
6. (now rare outside dialects, of cloth, land, etc.) Inflexible, stiff.
  Quotations
  A fenny gooſe, even as her fleſhe is blacker, ſtoorer, unholſomer, ſo is her feather, for the ſame cauſe, courſer, ſtoorer, and rougher, and therefore I have heard very good fletchers ſay, that the ſecond fether in ſome place is better than the pinion in other ſome.
  1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, book 2, page 148
7. (obsolete) Resolute; unyielding.
noun
plural stours
1. (UK dialectal, Ulster) A blowing or deposit of dust; dust in motion or at rest; dust in general.
adverb
comparative more stour, superlative most stour
1. (now chiefly dialectal) Severely; strongly.

/ˈstaʊə/

/ˈstɔː/

noun
plural stours
1. (obsolete) An armed battle or conflict.
  Quotations
  Then there began a passyng harde stoure, for the Romaynes ever wexed ever bygger.
  1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], (please specify the book number), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889,
  This pair, who past have many a dreadful stour, / And proffer now to prove this venture stout, / Alone to this attempt let them go forth, / Alone than thousands of more price and worth.
  1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, xv
2. (obsolete) A time of struggle or stress.
  Quotations
  Then gan she waile and weepe, to see that woefull stowre.
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
3. (now dialectal) Tumult, commotion; confusion.
verb
third-person singular simple present stours, present participle stouring, simple past and past participle stoured
1. Alternative form of stoor