scan

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English scannen (“to mark off verse to show metrical structure”), from earlier *scanden, from Late Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), from Classical Latin scandō (“I climb, rise, mount”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /skæn/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -æn

Verb[edit]

scan (third-person singular simple present scans, present participle scanning, simple past and past participle scanned)


  1. (transitive) To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely. [from 16th C.]
    She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for.
    • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter ii:
      Yet the incident did not in the least diminish my respect for my teacher. I was by nature blind to the faults of elders. Later I came to know of many other failings of this teacher, but my regard for him remained the same. For I had learnt to carry out the orders of elders, not to scan their actions.
  2. (transitive) To look about for; to look over quickly. [from 19th C.]
    He scanned the horizon.
    1. (computing, transitive) To inspect, analyze or go over, often to find something.
      to scan the hard drive for errors
    2. (computing, transitive) To perform lexical analysis; to tokenize.
  3. (computing, transitive) To create a digital copy of an image using a scanner.
    to scan a photograph
    Pencil drawings don't scan very well.
  4. (computing, transitive) To read with an electronic device.
    to scan a barcode; to scan a QR code
  5. (obsolete, transitive, originally) To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
  6. (poetry, transitive) To read or mark so as to show a specific meter. [from 14th C.]
    to scan verse
    1. (intransitive) To conform to a metrical structure.
    • 1998, Milton Acorn, Cedric Smith, James Deahl, editor, The Road to Charlottetown: A Play‎[1], UnMon Northland:
      You're right, sir, it doesn't scan very well in the English, but in the Gaelic it's sheer poetry. Have you the Gaelic?

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Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

scan (plural scans)

  1. Close investigation. [from 1700s]
  2. (computing) An instance of scanning.
    The operators vacated the room during the scan.
  3. (computing) The result or output of a scanning process.
    The doctors looked at the scans and made a diagnosis.

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