scouting

American  

[skou-ting] / ˈskaʊ tɪŋ /

noun

1. an act or instance of reconnoitering; reconnaissance.

2. the activities of a scout or scouts.

3. (often initial capital letter) the program of activities of the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts.

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scouting British  

/ ˈskaʊtɪŋ /

noun

1. 1. the activities, programmes, principles, etc, of the Scout Association

   2. ( as modifier )

      the international Scouting movement

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Other Word Forms

• scoutingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of scouting

First recorded in 1635–45; scout ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

“It isn’t the prototypical way that you draw it up,” said David Keller, who led Chicago’s scouting of Murakami.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

Ostensibly, Snead and McVay stepped aside to give assistant general manager John McKay and Nicole Blake, the director of scouting, strategy and analytics, experience dealing with questions from reporters, which they handled with aplomb.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

Notable: Thompson ran one of the quickest 40-yard dashes the NFL scouting combine at 4.26 seconds, with a 10-yard split time of 1.54.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

But I’ve never even thought about scouting, but yeah, absolutely I’d have interest in that.’”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

“Well I know that, but he said that Sam was there with a commissary officer, scouting for beef.”

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Related Words

• aloof
• arrogant
• averse
• contemptuous
• derisive
• haughty
• unsympathetic