extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc..
an investigation of wide scope.
space for movement or activity; opportunity for operation.
to give one's fancy full scope.
extent in space; a tract or area.
length.
a scope of cable.
aim or purpose.
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.
(used as a short form of microscope, oscilloscope, periscope, radarscope, riflescope, telescopic sight, etc.)
opportunity for exercising the faculties or abilities; capacity for action
plenty of scope for improvement
range of view, perception, or grasp; outlook
the area covered by an activity, topic, etc; range
the scope of his thesis was vast
nautical slack left in an anchor cable
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 )
informal short for telescope microscope oscilloscope
archaic purpose or aim
See range.
First recorded in 1525–35; from Italian scopo, from Greek skopós “aim, mark to shoot at”; akin to skopeîn “to look at” ( see -scope)
< New Latin -scopium < Greek -skopion, -skopeion, equivalent to skop ( eîn ) to look at (akin to sképtesthai to look, view carefully; cf. skeptic) + -ion, -eion noun suffix
Business people like to use the word scope because it specifies the extent of their responsibilities. Once you know the scope of a project, you can decide if you're qualified and how much time it will take to do it. If your boss gives you a new task and you don't want to do it, tell him or her it's not within the scope of your duties. A scope is also a device used to see something in the distance. You'll find one on shotguns, submarines, radars and the like. You can use scope as a verb meaning "to look out or around." When you and your friends go out, you probably scope out a few places to see where the action is.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There is scope for Centrica to evolve toward a more diversified, RWE-like utility company, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Attendees said "lengthy, microscoping reviews" indicate VAR has gone beyond its original scope.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
She was one of many Black parents whose demands for their children’s freedom helped define the scope of the 13th Amendment’s ban on slavery after the Civil War.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
“It enabled us to expand the scope in ways that wouldn’t have been feasible before,” Sarandos said.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I’m going to scope out the area. Make sure it’s safe.”
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Beretta Holding now houses more than 20 international brands, including historic British shotgun maker Holland & Holland, a Finnish sniper-rifle maker and Steiner, which produces rifle scopes in Ohio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 16, 2026
He said those delays would put Orsted in "a situation where we would need to go out and recontract all or very large scopes of the project at expectedly higher prices."
From Reuters ● Nov. 3, 2023
Vitale, on social media Tuesday, said he will have two scopes within the next five days to determine if his 35 radiation treatments “wiped out” his vocal cord cancer.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 11, 2023
On the terrace in front of the observatory, the Jenkins family from Atlanta take turns peering through rotating scopes at the mountains, the city, the ocean and the crisp blue sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2023
With my cloaking device engaged, I selected the nearest instance of the city and landed the Vonnegut just outside the wall of its dome, watching my scopes for other ships.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Those goals, he argued, were "scoped and reasonable objectives that can be attained."
From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026
More than a decade ago, Honnold scoped out Taipei 101 for a National Geographic special, but the project never materialized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
He kept the book tightly scoped, Jan. 7–24, ending with President Trump’s visit to the Palisades with Gov. Newsom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2026
By then the third team, most likely, was laying low in the Coromandel Peninsula town of Thames, a spot scoped out by Christine Cabon months before.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
As we headed toward the subway to go back up to Harlem, I scoped out the tall Midtown skyscrapers one last time.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
He is in Norway this month scoping out locations to add to his company’s itineraries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The bicycles caught the eye of project director Giovanna Araujo as she was scoping out the basement for sites to bore holes for geotechnical testing.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
The Treasury appeared to be scoping out the possibility of buying yen, which would raise the value of the Japanese currency against the U.S. dollar.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
Published under the title "Microplastics and Global Warming: A Hidden Climate Threat Uncovered in a New Perspective," the study provides a scoping review of existing research.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 17, 2026
Garrett’s finally out of earshot, scoping out the dessert counter.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
