scope

[skohp] /skoʊp/

noun

extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc.:

an investigation of wide scope.

space for movement or activity; opportunity for operation:

to give one's fancy full scope.

extent in space; a tract or area.

length:

a scope of cable.

aim or purpose.

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.

(used as a short form of microscope, oscilloscope, periscope, radarscope, riflescope, telescopic sight, etc.)

verb (used with object), scoped, scoping.

Slang. to look at, read, or investigate, as in order to evaluate or appreciate.

Verb phrases

scope out, Slang.

to look at or over; examine; check out:
a rock musician scoping out the audience before going on stage.
to master; figure out:
By the time we'd scoped out the problem, it was too late.

Origin

1525-35; < Italian scopo < Greek skopós aim, mark to shoot at; akin to skopeîn to look at (see -scope)

Related forms

scopeless, adjective

Synonyms

1. See range. 2. margin, room, liberty.

British Dictionary definitions for scope out

scope out

verb (transitive)

to assess the potential of an opportunity or suggestion: a scoping-out study

scope

/skəʊp/

noun

opportunity for exercising the faculties or abilities; capacity for action: plenty of scope for improvement

range of view, perception, or grasp; outlook

the area covered by an activity, topic, etc; range: the scope of his thesis was vast

(nautical) slack left in an anchor cable

(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)

(informal) short for telescope, microscope, oscilloscope

(archaic) purpose or aim

verb (transitive)

(informal) to look at or examine carefully

scope

"extent," 1530s, "room to act," from Italian scopo "aim, purpose, object, thing aimed at, mark, target," from Latin scopus, from Greek skopos "aim, target, watcher," from PIE *spek- "to observe" (cf. Sanskrit spasati "sees;" Avestan spasyeiti "spies;" Greek skopein "behold, look, consider," skeptesthai "to look at;" Latin specere "to look at;" Old High German spehhon "to spy," German spähen "to spy"). Sense of "distance the mind can reach, extent of view" first recorded c.1600.

"instrument for viewing," 1872, abstracted from telescope, microscope, etc., from Greek skopein "to look" (see scope (n.1)). Earlier used as a shortening of horoscope (c.1600).

"to view," 1807, from the source of scope (n.2). Related: Scoped; scoping.

Slang definitions & phrases for scope out

scope out

verb phrase

To look at; examine; check out, dig: scoping on the foxy sisters/ I'd scoped him out pretty well

[1980s+ Teenagers fr black; probably fr periscope]