a soldier, warship, airplane, etc., employed in reconnoitering.
a person sent out to obtain information.
Sports.
a person who observes and reports on the techniques, players, etc., of opposing teams.
a person sent out by a team to observe and recommend new talent for recruitment.
a talent scout, as in the entertainment field.
an act or instance of reconnoitering, inspecting, observing, etc.
Sometimes Scout a Boy Scout or Girl Scout.
Informal. a person.
He's a good scout.
a man acting as servant to a student at Oxford University.
to act as a scout; reconnoiter.
to make a search; hunt.
to work as a talent scout.
to examine, inspect, or observe for the purpose of obtaining information; reconnoiter.
to scout the enemy's defenses.
to seek; search for (usually followed by out orup ).
to scout up a date for Friday night.
to find by seeking, searching, or looking (usually followed by out orup ).
Scout out a good book for me to read.
a person, ship, or aircraft sent out to gain information
military a person or unit despatched to reconnoitre the position of the enemy
sport a person employed by a club to seek new players
the act or an instance of scouting
(esp at Oxford University) a college servant Compare gyp 3
obsolete (in Britain) a patrolman of a motoring organization
informal a fellow or companion
to examine or observe (anything) in order to obtain information
(tr; sometimes foll by out or up) to seek
(intr) to act as a scout for a sports club
(intr; foll by about or around) to go in search (for)
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb scouten. skowten, from Old French escouter, escolter, ascolter ( French écouter “to listen”) from Late Latin ascultāre, Latin auscultāre “to listen, listen to”; Middle English noun scoute-, from Old French escoute, derivative of escouter; see origin at auscultation
First recorded in 1595–1605; perhaps from Old Norse skūta, skūti “abuse, taunting”; see also shout
When you explore or investigate an area, you scout. If your cat is missing, you might send your friends out to scout around the neighborhood. When you scout, you're searching for information; the word comes from the Old French escouter, "to listen for," and its Latin source, auscultare, "to listen attentively." And when you're searching under porches and in trees for your missing cat — also listening for his meows — you're acting as a scout, someone tasked with looking out for or finding something.
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The novel follows Lila Dixon, an acerbic, cynical baseball scout living a dreary and closed-off life in her 30s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Red Bull have confirmed the appointment of the Mercedes driver scout involved in discovering Kimi Antonelli to head up their young driver programme.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Outside he was shy, very quiet,” former Barcelona scout Carles Rexach once wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
So, I went to scout it out beforehand — and I almost couldn’t believe my eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Gwenforte acted as their scout, ghostly and white, leading them through the trees.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
“Everybody has big boat-itis, or they want to go faster and faster,” said Scout Boats founder Steve Potts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Full reporting for the quarter should confirm this trend continues, and that’s bullish for stocks, says Nick Raich, who tracks earnings and earnings revisions closely at his research service the Earnings Scout.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Scout is available only to a limited circle of customers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
City Councilmember Nithya Raman spent the day dashing between local restaurants and bars in an old-school yellow Scout convertible to meet with business owners and her supporters.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
Just in passing, he was an Eagle Scout, an almost-All-America tackle of 1926, and it was known that he had been most cordially invited to try out for the New York Giants’ baseball team.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Notably, Liverpool signed now-England youth international Rio Ngumoha from Chelsea in 2024, prompting restrictions on youth scouts from a number of rival clubs attending matches.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Morocco have sought to identify and reach out to promising players with such roots at an early stage by deploying full-time scouts in France, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
He recorded a 7-foot wingspan and 8-8 standing reach at the NBA combine, where he also impressed scouts during the five-on-five scrimmage with 30 points and seven rebounds on six-for-12 shooting from three-point range.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
He said England sent scouts to the Central time zone 18 months before the tournament, and its list of needs rivaled that of any touring rock band.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
That fall she was introduced to two music scouts from Scandinavia.
From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman
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.
