Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The range of one's perceptions, thoughts, or actions.
  • noun The opportunity or possibility to function or be active: synonym: room.
  • noun The extent of a given activity or subject that is involved, treated, or relevant: synonym: range.
  • noun The length or sweep of a mooring cable.
  • noun Informal A viewing instrument such as a periscope, microscope, or telescope.
  • noun Linguistics The range over a part of a sentence or discourse that a quantifier has an effect on.
  • transitive verb To examine or assess. Often used with out:

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A mark to shoot at; a target.
  • noun That which is aimed at; end or aim kept or to be kept in view; that which is to be reached or accomplished; ultimate design, aim, or purpose; intention.
  • noun Outlook; intellectual range or view: as, a mind of wide scope.
  • noun Room for free outlook or aim; range or field of free observation or action; room; space.
  • noun Extent; length; sweep; (nautical) length of cable or anchor-chain at which a vessel rides when at anchor: as, scope of cable.
  • noun A wide tract.
  • noun A liberty; a license enjoyed; hence, an act of riot or excess.
  • noun An obsolete or dialectal form of scoop. Halliwell.
  • An obsolete form of scoup.
  • noun A bundle, as of twigs.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That at which one aims; the thing or end to which the mind directs its view; that which is purposed to be reached or accomplished; hence, ultimate design, aim, or purpose; intention; drift; object.
  • noun Room or opportunity for free outlook or aim; space for action; amplitude of opportunity; free course or vent; liberty; range of view, intent, or action.
  • noun obsolete Extended area.
  • noun Length; extent; sweep.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The breadth, depth or reach of a subject; a domain.
  • noun a device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target
  • noun computing The region of program source in which an identifier is meaningful.
  • noun logic The shortest sub-wff of which a given instance of a logical connective is a part of.
  • noun slang Shortened form of periscope, telescope, microscope or oscilloscope.
  • verb To perform a cursory investigation, as to scope out.
  • verb slang To perform arthroscopic surgery.
  • verb slang To examine under a microscope.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of the environment in which a situation exists
  • noun an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:
  • noun a magnifier of images of distant objects
  • noun electronic equipment that provides visual images of varying electrical quantities

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian scopo, aim, purpose, from Greek skopos, target, aim; see spek- in Indo-European roots.]

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