scope
UK /skəʊp/ · US /skoʊp/ noun, verb
Forms scopes scoping scoped
- noun The breadth, depth or reach of a subject; the extent of applicability or relevance; a domain, purview or remit. “Environmental impacts lie outside the scope of this report.”
- noun (weaponry) A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
- noun Potential range of action; degree of freedom; opportunity. “My job doesn't give me much scope for personal development.”
- noun (programming) The region of program source code in which a given identifier is meaningful, or a given object can be accessed.
- noun (logic) The shortest sub-wff of which a given instance of a logical connective is a part.
- noun (linguistics) The region of an utterance to which some modifying element applies. “the scope of an adverb”
- noun (medicine, colloquial) Any medical procedure that ends in the suffix -scopy, such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, etc.
- verb (informal, transitive) To perform a cursory investigation of; scope out.
- verb (medicine, colloquial) To perform any medical procedure that ends in the suffix -scopy, such as endoscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, etc. “The surgeon will scope the football player's knee to repair damage to a ligament.”
- verb To define the scope of something.
- verb (programming) To limit (an object or variable) to a certain region of program source code. “If we locally scope the user's login name, it won't be accessible from outside this function.”
- verb (informal) To examine under a microscope. “The entomologist explained that he could not tell what species of springtail we were looking at without scoping it.”
- verb (birdwatching, informal) To observe a bird using a spotting scope.
- noun (obsolete) A bundle, as of twigs.
Synonyms
compass ambit telescopic sight range reach orbit setting background telescope oscilloscope cathode-ray oscilloscope CRO
Etymology
From Italian scopo (“purpose”), from Latin scopus (“target”), from Ancient Greek σκοπός (skopós), from σκέπτομαι (sképtomai), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ-. Etymologically related to skeptic and spectrum.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That at which one aims; the thing or end to which the mind directs its view; that which is purposed to be reached or accomplished; hence, ultimate design, aim, or purpose; intention; drift; object.
- noun Room or opportunity for free outlook or aim; space for action; amplitude of opportunity; free course or vent; liberty; range of view; intent, or action.
Etymology [It. scopo, L. scopos a mark, aim, Gr. skopo`s, a watcher, mark, aim; akin to spy. Cf. Skeptic, Bishop.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “scope”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details