Scud

Definition: to run or skim along swiftly and easily

This is a nautical term. Scudding is a good thing, I gather.

There’s a sailing emphasis to some definitions:

To run before a gale with little or no sail set.

Why I Looked It Up

In the voiceover for the Sri Lanka episode, Anthony Bourdain said:

In the distance, the dark silhouettes of oil tankers from Indonesia and points east scud slowly towards the Persian Gulf and beyond.

I wonder about “scud slowly,” since that seems antithetical to the definition.

Postscript

From Slow Horses:

The houses opposite seemed to tilt towards his gaze; the effect of their height, and the overhead clouds scudding against a velvet backdrop.