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scan

verb
/skæn/

Etymology

From late Middle English scanne (“to mark off verse to show metrical structure”), from earlier scanden, from Late Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), from Classical Latin scandō (“to climb, rise, mount”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump, dart, climb, scale, scan”).

  1. derived from *skend-✻
  2. inherited from scanne — “to mark off verse to show metrical structure”

Definitions

  1. To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically

    To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely.

    • She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for.
    • He scanned the horizon.

  2. To look about for

    To look about for; to look over quickly.

  3. To create an image of something with the use of a scanner.

    • to scan a photograph
    • to scan internal organs by means of computed tomography
    • Pencil drawings don't scan very well.
  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. To read with an electronic device.

      • to scan a barcode
      • to scan a QR code

    2. To mount by steps

      To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.

      • But ere these matchless heights I dare to scan, / There is a spot should not be pass'd in vain,— / Morat ! the proud, the patriot field ! where man / May gaze on ghastly trophies of the slain,[…]

    3. To read or mark so as to show a specific metre.

      • In such cases as these, almost any one with a good ear will "scan" the verse correctly enough without instruction. It is not proposed to give here a list of Shakspere's slurred and contracted words; […]

    4. To conform to a metrical structure.

      • 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?

    5. A close investigation.

    6. An instance of scanning.

      • The operators vacated the room during the scan.

    7. The result or output of a scanning process.

      • The doctors looked at the scans and made a diagnosis.

    8. A higher-order function that applies a binary operation to a sequence of values, starting…

      A higher-order function that applies a binary operation to a sequence of values, starting with an accumulator, and returns a new sequence with the results.

The neighborhood

Derived

backscan, descan, forescan, prescan, scannability, scannable, misscan, radioscan, rescan, bioscan, body scan, bone scan, bootscan, brainscan, B-scan, cardioscan, CAT scan, con-scan, CT scan, downscan, egoscan, fluoroscan, helical scan, hitscan, interscan, introscan, keyscan, line scan, livescan, microscan, moisture scan, multiscan, NT scan, nuchal scan, nuchal translucency scan, overscan, pan and scan, portscan, postscan, radiochromatoscan · +24 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for scan. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA