scan

English

Etymology

From Middle English scannen, for *scanden < Old French escandir (“to climb, scan”), from Latin scandō (“I climb”).

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

Verb

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

  1. To examine sequentially, part by part.
    She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for.
  2. (computing) To create a digital copy of an image using a scanner.
    scan a photograph
    Pencil doesn't scan very well.
  3. (computing) To read with an electronic device.
    scan a barcode; scan a QR code; full-body scanner
  4. (computing) To perform lexical analysis; to tokenize.
  5. (computing) This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
    scan the hard drive for errors
  6. To look about for.
    He scanned the horizon.
  7. (poetry) To fit or conform to a specific meter.
    • 1998, Milton Acorn, Cedric Smith, James Deahl, editor, The Road to Charlottetown: A Play‎, 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?
  8. (obsolete) To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.

Derived terms
  • forescan

Translations

Noun

scan (plural scans)

  1. An instance of scanning.
    The operators vacated the room during the scan.
  2. The result or output of a scanning process.
    The doctors looked at the scans and made a diagnosis.

Translations

See also

Further reading
  • scan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • scan in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  • scan at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams
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