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• scope
  scope

  noun

  extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc..
• -scope
  -scope

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

scope

¹ American  

[skohp] / skoʊp /

noun

• scopes
  plural

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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Synonym Usage

See range.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scopeless
  adjective
• -scopic
  combining form

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scopes
  plural

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” ( see -scope)

Origin of -scope²

< 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

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scope scopes scoped scoping

Agencies and courts will need time to define the scope of litigation reforms, and new transmission policy will take years to implement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

President Trump modified the scope of some existing tariffs on Canada, and has now imposed 50% levies on some all-terrain vehicles and boats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

As Chancellor, Rachel Reeves tweaked her so-called fiscal rules on debt and borrowing but Nowak said he believes the scope this provided for extra investment hasn't been maximised.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

By April 2025, the typical search scope had almost doubled to around 500 networks.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

This year, Christmas Eve fell on a Tuesday, and in the Vanderbeeker tradition, Christmas Eve dinner rivaled Thanksgiving dinner in scope and quality.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

Meanwhile, night-vision rifle scopes paired with cutting-edge thermal-imaging binoculars open the night woods to hunting in ways that were impossible just a few years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

In the years since, Williams has consistently appeared in film and TV, accepting parts of all sizes and scopes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024

Sewer scopes allow plumbers to get a clear visual all the way down in the pipes.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024

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

"You could be a famed courtier. Only having to worry about dresses and gossip and landing in the scopes and papers."

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Some Russians who have the money to travel have already scoped out destinations for the next few months where they can wait out a potential mobilization.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Those goals, he argued, were "scoped and reasonable objectives that can be attained."

From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026

Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who lives in Los Angeles and is a preeminent sports surgeon, doesn’t currently count Vonn among his current patients but he has scoped her knee twice to remove scar tissue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026

Among the options the department has scoped are to give a free meal to every child up to and including primary three, primary seven or to every child in primary and post-primary school.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2024

After every sixteen-mile stint in Idaho, Grandpa Ed is there just as he’s promised, in the location her “team” has scoped out.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Firstly, metallurgical testwork returned materially higher recoveries of precious and base metals than previously assumed in an April scoping study.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Ardern and her husband were seen scoping out properties for sale in Sydney's beachside northern suburbs of Freshwater and Curl Curl, property website realestate.com.au said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 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

The companies are currently scoping out demand and seeking commitments from customers in what is known as an “open season.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025

Alec was shining the face of the workpad in different directions, scoping out the area.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

Related Words

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