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   Scale

   /skāl/

   

   noun

   • 1. a graduated range of values forming a standard system for measuring or grading something: "company employees have hit the top of their pay scales" Similar calibrated systemcalibrationgraduated systemsystem of measurementmeasuring systemregisterhierarchyladderrankingpecking orderorderspectrumprogressionsuccessionsequenceseries
   • ▪ the full range of different levels of people or things, from lowest to highest: "two men at opposite ends of the social scale"
   • ▪ a series of marks at regular intervals in a line used in measuring something: "the mean delivery time is plotted against a scale on the right"
   • ▪ a device having a series of marks at regular intervals in a line used in measuring something: "she read the exact distance off a scale"
   • ▪ a rule determining the distances between marks on a scale: "the vertical axis is given on a logarithmic scale"
   • 2. the relative size or extent of something: "no one foresaw the scale of the disaster" Similar extentsizescopemagnitudedimensionsrangebreadthcompassdegreereachspreadsweep
   • ▪ a ratio of size in a map, model, drawing, or plan: "a one-fifth scale model of a seven-story building" Similar ratioproportionrelative size
   • 3. an arrangement of the notes in any system of music in ascending or descending order of pitch: "the scale of C major"
   • ▪ the exercise of performing the notes of one or more scales as a form of practice by a singer or musician: "in music class I dread having to sing scales"
   • 4. 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"
   • 5. the range of exposures over which a photographic material will give an acceptable variation in density.

   verb

   • 1. climb up or over (something high and steep): "thieves scaled an 8-foot fence"
   • 2. represent in proportional dimensions; reduce or increase in size according to a common scale.
   • ▪ (of a quantity or property) be variable according to a particular scale.
   • 3. estimate the amount of timber that will be produced from (a log or uncut tree): North American "the operators were accustomed to having their logs scaled for inventory control"

   Word 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’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. scaler noun

   Scrabble Points: 7

   • S

     1

   • C

     3

   • A

     1

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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