scan
to glance at or over or read hastily: to scan a page.
to examine the particulars or points of minutely; scrutinize.
to peer out at or observe repeatedly or sweepingly, as a large expanse; survey.
to analyze (verse) as to its prosodic or metrical structure; read or recite (verse) so as to indicate or test the metrical form.
to read (data) for use by a computer or computerized device, especially using an optical scanner.
Television. to traverse (a surface) with a beam of light or electrons in order to reproduce or transmit a picture.
Radar. to traverse (a region) with a beam from a radar transmitter.
Medicine/Medical, Biology. to examine (a body, organ, tissue, or other biologically active material) with a scanner.
to examine the meter of verse.
(of verse) to conform to the rules of meter.
Television. to scan a surface or the like.
an act or instance of scanning; close examination.
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.
a particular image or frame in such video observation or a photograph made from it.
Medicine/Medical, Biology.
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.
the image or display so obtained.
Origin of scan
1Other words for scan
Other words from scan
- scan·na·ble, adjective
- self-scanned, adjective
- un·scan·na·ble, adjective
- un·scanned, adjective
Words that may be confused with scan
- scam, scan
Other definitions for Scan. (2 of 2)
Scandinavia.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use scan in a sentence
Aka this is an app to make foot scans you can send your bestie for shopping keepsies.
Xesto is a foot scanning app that simplifies shoe gifting | Natasha Lomas | November 20, 2020 | TechCrunchSo it’s not a two second process, though the scan only has to be done once.
Neatsy wants to reduce sneaker returns with 3D foot scans | Natasha Lomas | November 20, 2020 | TechCrunchFORESIGHT, a nationwide health initiative I help lead, recently released a scan of many health trends and emergent issues.
Why We Need a Collective Vision to Design the Future of Health | Abner Mason | November 11, 2020 | Singularity HubThe scans also suggested the existence of a door and the base of a chimney inside.
Former Jesuit plantation may hold quarters of the enslaved | Michael Ruane | November 9, 2020 | Washington PostWhen this occurs, by design, these ballots bypass certain processing operations and do not receive a final scan.
For the Postal Service, a Frantic Election Day Turns to Finger-Pointing the Day After | by Maryam Jameel and Ryan McCarthy | November 5, 2020 | ProPublica
They carefully scanned open windows along the route, looking for places where a shooter might hide.
Honoring The Late John Doar, A Nearly Forgotten Hero Of The Civil Rights Era | Gary May | November 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBecause all of the Rescued Film Project images are scanned to digital, the necessity of a darkroom is null.
His cap in hand, Lou briefly scanned the packed stands, now silent as if on cue.
The Stacks: The Day Lou Gehrig Delivered Baseball’s Gettysburg Address | Ray Robinson | July 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut before you can move, you hear an odd beeping sound as your ticket is scanned.
Oregon Judge Grounds the Federal No-Fly List—and It’s High Time | Dean Obeidallah | June 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe “hands-on” laboratory allows visitors to use some of the technology, including being three-dimensionally scanned and printed.
Art Goes High-Tech at These Four Innovative Exhibits | Justin Jones | May 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMr. Pontellier scanned the names of his wife's callers, reading some of them aloud, with comments as he read.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinWhile he was gone, MacRae and I leaned over in our saddles and scanned closely the grass-carpeted bottom-land.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairWe scanned the opposite side for sight of MacRae, but saw nothing of him; he kept close under cover.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairShe drew it out, and scanned eagerly a dozen or so of the closely-written lines in Spanish.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le QueuxThis line can best be scanned by taking That as standing alone, in the first foot.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems | Geoffrey Chaucer
British Dictionary definitions for scan
/ (skæn) /
(tr) to scrutinize minutely
(tr) to glance over quickly
(tr) prosody to read or analyse (verse) according to the rules of metre and versification
(intr) prosody to conform to the rules of metre and versification
(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
(tr) to examine data stored on (magnetic tape, etc), usually in order to retrieve information
to examine or search (a prescribed region) by systematically varying the direction of a radar or sonar beam
physics to examine or produce or be examined or produced by a continuous charge of some variable: to scan a spectrum
med to obtain an image of (a part of the body) by means of a scanner
the act or an instance of scanning
med
the examination of a part of the body by means of a scanner: a brain scan; ultrasound scan
the image produced by a scanner
Origin of scan
1Derived forms of scan
- scannable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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