scale
noun
[ skeɪl ]
• each of the small, thin horny or bony plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, typically overlapping one another.
• a thick, dry flake of skin.
• a flaky covering or deposit.
scale
verb
• remove scale or scales from.
• "he scales the fish and removes the innards"
• (especially of the skin) form scales.
• "the skin may scale and peel away with itching, stinging, or burning sensations in the infected area"
Origin:
Middle English: shortening of Old French escale, from the Germanic base of scale2.
scale
noun
• an instrument for weighing, originally a simple balance ( a pair of scales ) but now usually a device with an electronic or other internal weighing mechanism.
• "bathroom scales"
• a large drinking container for beer or other alcoholic drink.
scale
verb
• weigh a specified weight.
• "some men scaled less than ninety pounds"
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘drinking cup’, surviving in South African English): from Old Norse skál ‘bowl’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schaal, German Schale ‘bowl’, also to English dialect shale ‘dish’.
scale
noun
• a graduated range of values forming a standard system for measuring or grading something.
• "a new salary scale is planned for all universities"
Similar:
calibrated system,
calibration,
graduated system,
system of measurement,
measuring system,
register,
hierarchy,
ladder,
ranking,
pecking order,
order,
spectrum,
progression,
succession,
sequence,
series,
• the relative size or extent of something.
• "no one foresaw the scale of the disaster"
Similar:
extent,
size,
scope,
magnitude,
dimensions,
range,
breadth,
compass,
degree,
reach,
spread,
sweep,
• an arrangement of the notes in any system of music in ascending or descending order of pitch.
• "the scale of C major"
• a system of numerical notation in which the value of a digit depends upon its position in the number, successive positions representing successive powers of a fixed base.
• "the conversion of the number to the binary scale"
• the range of exposures over which a photographic material will give an acceptable variation in density.
scale
verb
• climb up or over (something high and steep).
• "thieves scaled a high fence"
Similar:
climb,
ascend,
go up,
go over,
clamber up,
shin (up),
scramble up,
mount,
shinny (up),
escalade,
• represent in proportional dimensions; reduce or increase in size according to a common scale.
• estimate the amount of timber that will be produced from (a log or uncut tree).
• "the operators were accustomed to having their logs scaled for inventory control"
Origin:
late Middle English: from Latin scala ‘ladder’ (the verb via Old French escaler or medieval Latin scalare ‘climb’), from the base of Latin scandere ‘to climb’.
