Scale

/skeɪl/ · noun

Meaning

(obsolete) A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending..

Definitions by Sense

1. (obsolete) A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
2. An ordered, usually numerical sequence used for measurement; means of assigning a magnitude.
3. Size; scope.
4. The ratio of depicted distance to actual distance.
5. A line or bar associated with a drawing, used to indicate measurement when the image has been magnified or reduced.
6. (music) A series of notes spanning an octave, tritave, or pseudo-octave, used to make melodies.
7. A mathematical base for a numeral system; radix.
8. Gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order.

Example Sentences

Please rate your experience on a scale from 1 to 10.

The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the open-ended Richter scale.

There are some who question the scale of our ambitions.

We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.

This map uses a scale of 1:10.

Even though precision can be carried to an extreme, the scales which now are drawn in (and usually connected to an appropriate figure by an arrow) will allow derivation of meaningful measurements.

the decimal scale, the binary scale

There is a certain scale of duties […] which for want of studying in right order, all the world is in confusion.

Synonyms for scale

Antonyms for scale

Related Words

Word Forms

• scales
• scaling
• scaled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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