scan

¹ American  

[skan] / skæn /

verb (used with object)

scanned, scanning

1. to glance at or over or read hastily.

   to scan a page.

   Synonyms:

   skim

2. to examine the particulars or points of minutely; scrutinize.

   Synonyms:

   inspect, investigate, study

3. to peer out at or observe repeatedly or sweepingly, as a large expanse; survey.

4. to analyze (verse) as to its prosodic or metrical structure; read or recite (verse) so as to indicate or test the metrical form.

5. to read (data) for use by a computer or computerized device, especially using an optical scanner.

6. Television. to traverse (a surface) with a beam of light or electrons in order to reproduce or transmit a picture.

7. Radar. to traverse (a region) with a beam from a radar transmitter.

8. Medicine/Medical, Biology. to examine (a body, organ, tissue, or other biologically active material) with a scanner.

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verb (used without object)

scanned, scanning

1. to examine the meter of verse.

2. (of verse) to conform to the rules of meter.

3. Television. to scan a surface or the like.

noun

1. an act or instance of scanning; close examination.

2. a visual examination by means of a television camera, as for the purpose of making visible or relaying pictures from a remote place.

   a satellite scan of the dark side of the moon; video scans of property listings available to customers.

3. a particular image or frame in such video observation or a photograph made from it.

4. Medicine/Medical, Biology.

   1. examination of the body or an organ or part, or a biologically active material, by means of a technique such as computed axial tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, ultrasonography, or scintigraphy.

   2. the image or display so obtained.

Scan. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Scandinavia.

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scan British  

/ skæn /

verb

1. (tr) to scrutinize minutely

2. (tr) to glance over quickly

3. (tr) prosody to read or analyse (verse) according to the rules of metre and versification

4. (intr) prosody to conform to the rules of metre and versification

5. (tr) electronics to move a beam of light, electrons, etc, in a predetermined pattern over (a surface or region) to obtain information, esp either to sense and transmit or to reproduce a television image

6. (tr) to examine data stored on (magnetic tape, etc), usually in order to retrieve information

7. to examine or search (a prescribed region) by systematically varying the direction of a radar or sonar beam

8. physics to examine or produce or be examined or produced by a continuous charge of some variable

   to scan a spectrum

9. med to obtain an image of (a part of the body) by means of a scanner

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noun

1. the act or an instance of scanning

2. med

   1. the examination of a part of the body by means of a scanner

      a brain scan

      ultrasound scan

   2. the image produced by a scanner

Other Word Forms

• scannable adjective
• self-scanned adjective
• unscannable adjective
• unscanned adjective

Etymology

Origin of scan

1350–1400; Middle English scannen, variant of *scanden < Late Latin scandere to scan verse, Latin: to climb ( ascend )

Example Sentences

Earlier research has shown that plasma p tau217 closely reflects the buildup of amyloid and tau in the brain, as seen on PET scans.

From Science Daily

At the University of Chicago's South Side Fossil Lab in Washington Park, the team carefully prepared and CT scanned the fossils to create a digital reconstruction of the skull for the scientific report.

From Science Daily

My wife of 42 years and I spent Feb. 14 this year in a hospital’s emergency room for what turned out to be a negative CT scan.

From The Wall Street Journal

To better understand what filled that space, researchers including a team from the University of Tokyo analyzed CT scans of fossilized Triceratops skulls.

From Science Daily

The 2017 study involved 24 volunteers navigating a simulation of Soho in central London while undergoing brain scans.

From BBC

Related Words

• browse
• check
• examine
• flash
• flip through
• leaf through
• look through
• scour
• search
• skim
• thumb through