Scud By Deane Barker • January 18, 2022 • 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 Added on September 7, 2023 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.