scope out

British  

verb

1. to assess the potential of an opportunity or suggestion

   a scoping-out study

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Example Sentences

She came to Frieze to scope out the next addition to her home.

From Los Angeles Times

Coercive diplomacy is harder still, especially if you haven’t thought through your diplomatic goals, haven’t tried to scope out the interests or incentives of the leaders you’re trying to coerce, and have now been told by your top military adviser that your tools of coercion might not be up to the task.

From Slate

It’s also why, in negotiating a peaceful way out of a crisis, it’s good for them to know what the other side wants too—not necessarily to appease them but to scope out the boundaries of what’s possible without war and, given that, whether it’s better to modify peace terms or go to war.

From Slate

Three years in, Dimoldenberg likes to have a vantage point that allows her, as a producer for her company Dimz Inc., to scope out which celebrities are coming her way, catch their eye and “draw them to me while I’m talking to someone else.”

From Los Angeles Times

This meant shoppers had to scope out two sections of the store to outfit their rooms.

From The Wall Street Journal