scope

¹ American  

[skohp] / skoʊp /

noun

1. extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc..

   an investigation of wide scope.

2. space for movement or activity; opportunity for operation.

   to give one's fancy full scope.

   Synonyms:

   liberty , room , sweep , reach , range , extent , breadth , ambit

3. extent in space; a tract or area.

4. length.

   a scope of cable.

5. aim or purpose.

6. Linguistics, Logic.  the range of words or elements of an expression over which a modifier or operator has control.

   In “old men and women,” “old” may either take “men and women” or just “men” in its scope.

7. (used as a short form of microscope, oscilloscope, periscope, radarscope, riflescope, telescopic sight, etc.)

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verb (used with object)

scoped, scoping

1. Slang.  to look at, read, or investigate, as in order to evaluate or appreciate.

verb phrase

1. scope out

   1. to look at or over; examine; check out.

      a rock musician scoping out the audience before going on stage.

   2. to master; figure out.

      By the time we'd scoped out the problem, it was too late.

-scope ² American  

1. a combining form meaning “instrument for viewing,” used in the formation of compound words.

   telescope.

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scope ¹ British  

/ skəʊp /

noun

1. opportunity for exercising the faculties or abilities; capacity for action

   plenty of scope for improvement

2. range of view, perception, or grasp; outlook

3. the area covered by an activity, topic, etc; range

   the scope of his thesis was vast

4. nautical slack left in an anchor cable

5. logic linguistics that part of an expression that is governed by a given operator: the scope of the negation in PV– ( q ∧ r ) is –( q ∧ r )

6. informal  short for telescope microscope oscilloscope

7. archaic  purpose or aim

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verb

1. informal  to look at or examine carefully

-scope ² British  

combining form

1. indicating an instrument for observing, viewing, or detecting

   microscope

   stethoscope

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Related Words

See range.

Other Word Forms

• -scopic combining form
• scopeless adjective

Etymology

Origin of scope¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Italian scopo, from Greek skopós “aim, mark to shoot at”; akin to skopeîn “to look at” ( -scope )

Origin of -scope²

< New Latin -scopium < Greek -skopion, -skopeion, equivalent to skop ( eîn ) to look at (akin to sképtesthai to look, view carefully; skeptic ) + -ion, -eion noun suffix

Example Sentences

The deals vary slightly in scope and the size and destination of the payments.

From The Wall Street Journal

When it comes to the world of comic invention and linguistic pyrotechnics, few dramatists of the 20th century could match the scope and sustained success of British writer Tom Stoppard, who has died aged 88.

From Barron's

But the full scope of their project went much further, according to people familiar with the talks.

From The Wall Street Journal

"I was shocked by the scope of what I was seeing in these videos, especially the sheer number of products that these girls were using," Hales told AFP.

From Barron's

The problem now is that Liverpool has limited scope to make changes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• breadth
• capacity
• extension
• opportunity
• outlook
• purview
• sphere