scope

¹

[skohp]

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.)

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

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

   telescope.

scope

¹

/ 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

verb

1. informal,  to look at or examine carefully

-scope

²

combining form

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

   microscope

   stethoscope

Other Word Forms

• scopeless adjective
• -scopic combining form

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of scope¹

C16: from Italian scopo goal, from Latin scopus, from Greek skopos target; related to Greek skopein to watch

Origin of scope²

from New Latin -scopium, from Greek -skopion, from skopein to look at

Synonym Study

See range.

Example Sentences

Their résumés may include mentoring, volunteer leadership or projects outside their official scope.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Their size and scope began coming into focus later on Friday, when the administration disclosed seven agencies had started laying off more than 4,000 workers.

Read more on BBC

Its scope was narrowed to eight of California’s 58 counties, targeting heavily urban areas like Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Longer-term investors increasingly realize that public companies run environmental and resource-related risks beyond the scope of traditional financial statements, Wade argues.

Read more on Barron's

Reviewing that show, our critic said that it “reveals the full scope of an enormously talented and prolific artist who was much more than a sculptor of sinuous, crocheted-wire abstractions.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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