scan
/skæn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.07 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely.
Transitive verb
verb
To examine sequentially, carefully, or critically; to scrutinize; to behold closely.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "She scanned the passage carefully but could not find what she was looking for."
- "He scanned the horizon."
- "Yet the incident did not in the least diminish my respect for my teacher. I was by nature blind to the faults of elders. Later I came to know of many other failings of this teacher, but my regard for him remained the same. For I had learnt to carry out the orders of elders, not to scan their actions."
- "Slowly, he scanned the horizon, listening, watching for the signs he had been taught."
- "As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it."
- "to scan the hard drive for errors"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *skend-der. Proto-Italic *skandō Latin scandōbor. Middle English scanden Middle English scanne English scan From late Middle English scanne (“to mark off verse to show metrical structure”), from earlier scanden, from Late Latin scandere (“to scan verse”), from Classical Latin scandō (“to climb, rise, mount”), from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to jump, dart, climb, scale, scan”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: scanne, *skend-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skæn/
- British English: /skæn/