Link Centre Dictionary

scan

UK/skan/ US/skæn/ common
verb (7) noun (2)

verb

1.

examine minutely or intensely

  • “the surgeon scanned the X-ray”
2.

examine hastily

  • “She scanned the newspaper headlines while waiting for the taxi”
Synonyms
3.

make a wide, sweeping search of

  • “The beams scanned the night sky”
4.
5.
6.

read metrically

  • “scan verses”
7.

obtain data from magnetic tapes

  • “This dictionary can be read by the computer”
Synonyms

noun

1.

the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region

  • “he made a thorough scan of the beach with his binoculars”
2.

an image produced by scanning

  • “he analyzed the brain scan”
  • “you could see the tumor in the CAT scan”
Synonyms

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • body scan
  • bone scan
  • CAT scan
  • CT scan
  • helical scan
  • line scan
  • moisture scan
  • NT scan

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.