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scale [ scale ]

[
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skeɪl ]
[
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skeɪl ]
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Noun

1. Each of the small, thin horny or bony plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, typically overlapping one another.

Check the fish for any stray scales and loose bones.

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2. A thick, dry flake of skin.

If you look at the bumps closely, you might see white scales or flakes on them.

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3. A rudimentary leaf, feather, or bract.

For instance, you can smear a homemade mixture into the opened scales of a pinecone, then hang the cone from a tree branch.

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4. Each of numerous microscopic structures covering the wings of butterflies and moths.

Tiny scales cover the adult butterfly's wings that aid them during these critical searches.

5. A flaky covering or deposit.

Sometimes it presents as a white scale over a pink macule or papule.

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6. A white deposit formed in a kettle, boiler, etc. by the evaporation of water containing lime.

This is the white scale or platy stuff that you may see on the inside of the dishwasher or coffee pots or other hot water contact areas.

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7. Tartar formed on teeth.

If plaque is not thoroughly removed, salts from the saliva cause it to become hard and form scale or dental calculus.

8. A coating of oxide formed on heated metal.

Every so often it is advisable to remove the mineral scale that builds up on the electrical heater element and in the reservoir pan.

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Verb

1. Remove scale or scales from.

he scales the fish and removes the innards

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2. Remove tartar from (teeth) by scraping them.

dental hygienists give treatment such as scaling and polishing teeth

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3. (especially of the skin) form scales.

Other signs include hair loss, redness, scaling and secondary infection.

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4. Come off in scales or thin pieces; flake off.

the paint was scaling from the brick walls

Origin

1. Middle English shortening of Old French escale, from the Germanic base of scale.

Noun

1. (usually scales) An instrument for weighing, originally a simple balance (a pair of scales) but now usually a device with an electronic or other internal weighing mechanism.

kitchen scales

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2. Either of the dishes on a simple balance.

Lyman also has an accessory called the ‘Powder Pal’ that combines the scale pan with a powder funnel.

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3. (the Scales) The zodiacal sign or constellation Libra.
4. A large drinking container for beer or other alcoholic drink.

Verb

1. Weigh a specified weight.

The elder statesman had another perch bag of 3-13 as did third-placed man Adrian Goodwin who scaled 2-4oz.

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Origin

1. Middle English (in the sense ‘drinking cup’, surviving in South African English): from Old Norse skál ‘bowl’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schaal, German Schale ‘bowl’, also to English dialect shale ‘dish’.

Noun

1. A graduated range of values forming a standard system for measuring or grading something.

They are low on the social scale, where scales are all-important.

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2. The full range of different levels of people or things, from lowest to highest.

The Justice gave the accused in that case a credit on a scale of 0.5 to 1.

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3. A series of marks at regular intervals in a line used in measuring something.

Preoperatively, patients marked the scales before any medication was given.

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4. A device having a series of marks at regular intervals for measuring.

she read the exact distance off a scale

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5. A rule determining the distances between marks on a scale.

Please note that the 34-year performance has a logarithmic price scale.

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6. The relative size or extent of something.

everything in the house is on a grand scale

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7. A ratio of size in a map, model, drawing, or plan.

We may even build scale models and test them in wind tunnels and other ways.

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8. An arrangement of the notes in any system of music in ascending or descending order of pitch.

the scale of C major

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9. (scales) The exercise of performing the notes of one or more scales as a form of practice by a singer or musician.

he thinks guitarists in particular don't spend nearly enough time practising scales

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10. A system of numerical notation in which the value of a digit depends upon its position in the number, successive positions representing successive powers of a fixed base.

The larger the base scale, the greater is the accuracy of the ACCS component in fulfilling its tasks.

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11. The range of exposures over which a photographic material will give an acceptable variation in density.

For example, the tonal scale of cyanotype varies from 9-11 steps with different light sources.

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Verb

1. Climb up or over (something high and steep)

thieves scaled a high fence

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2. Represent in proportional dimensions; reduce or increase in size according to a common scale.

It scales its fonts to nearly any size, large or small.

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3. (of a quantity or property) be variable according to a particular scale.

They start as low as 500GB and can scale up to tens of terabytes, for an investment as low as five cents per megabyte.

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4. Estimate the amount of timber that will be produced from (a log or uncut tree)

the operators were accustomed to having their logs scaled for inventory control

Scale back

1. (scale something back, scale back something) Reduce something in size, number, or extent, especially by a constant proportion across the board.

in the short term, even scaling back defence costs money

Scale up

1. (scale something up, scale up something) Increase something in size, number or extent, especially by a constant proportion across the board.

one cannot suddenly scale up a laboratory procedure by a thousandfold

2. (scale up) (of a factory, company, or system) increase production or capacity.

they can buy in at low cost and scale up as the company grows

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Scale down

1. (scale something down, scale down something) Reduce something in size, number or extent, especially by a constant proportion across the board.

The plans were re-evaluated, and the board scaled them down, reducing the project's budget from $20 million to $13.5 million.

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Origin

1. Late Middle English from Latin scala ‘ladder’ (the verb via Old French escaler or medieval Latin scalare ‘climb’), from the base of Latin scandere ‘to climb’.

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