scan

[skan] verb, scanned, scan·ning, noun
verb (used with object)
1.
to glance at or over or read hastily: to scan a page.
2.
to examine the particulars or points of minutely; scrutinize.
3.
to peer out at or observe repeatedly or sweepingly, as a large expanse; survey.
4.
to analyze (verse) as to its prosodic or metrical structure; read or recite (verse) so as to indicate or test the metrical form.
5.
to read (data) for use by a computer or computerized device, especially using an optical scanner.
6.
Television. to traverse (a surface) with a beam of light or electrons in order to reproduce or transmit a picture.
7.
Radar. to traverse (a region) with a beam from a radar transmitter.
8.
Medicine/Medical, Biology. to examine (a body, organ, tissue, or other biologically active material) with a scanner.
verb (used without object)
9.
to examine the meter of verse.
10.
(of verse) to conform to the rules of meter.
11.
Television. to scan a surface or the like.
00:10
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an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
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noun
12.
an act or instance of scanning; close examination.
13.
a visual examination by means of a television camera, as for the purpose of making visible or relaying pictures from a remote place: a satellite scan of the dark side of the moon; video scans of property listings available to customers.
14.
a particular image or frame in such video observation or a photograph made from it.
15.
Medicine/Medical, Biology.
a.
examination of the body or an organ or part, or a biologically active material, by means of a technique such as computed axial tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, ultrasonography, or scintigraphy.
b.
the image or display so obtained.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English scannen, variant of *scanden < Late Latin scandere to scan verse, Latin: to climb (see ascend)

Related forms
scan·na·ble, adjective
self-scanned, adjective
un·scan·na·ble, adjective
un·scanned, adjective

Can be confused: scam, scan.

Synonyms
1. study, investigate, inspect, search. 2. skim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
scan (skæn) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb , scans, scanning, scanned
1.  (tr) to scrutinize minutely
2.  (tr) to glance over quickly
3.  (tr) prosody to read or analyse (verse) according to the rules of metre and versification
4.  (intr) prosody to conform to the rules of metre and versification
5.  (tr) electronics to move a beam of light, electrons, etc, in a predetermined pattern over (a surface or region) to obtain information, esp either to sense and transmit or to reproduce a television image
6.  (tr) to examine data stored on (magnetic tape, etc), usually in order to retrieve information
7.  to examine or search (a prescribed region) by systematically varying the direction of a radar or sonar beam
8.  physics to examine or produce or be examined or produced by a continuous charge of some variable: to scan a spectrum
9.  med to obtain an image of (a part of the body) by means of a scanner
 
—n
10.  the act or an instance of scanning
11.  med
 a.  the examination of a part of the body by means of a scanner: a brain scan; ultrasound scan
 b.  the image produced by a scanner
 
[C14: from Late Latin scandere to scan (verse), from Latin: to climb]
 
'scannable
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

scan
late 14c., "mark off verse in metric feet," from L.L. scandere "to scan verse," originally, in classical L., "to climb" (the connecting notion is of the rising and falling rhythm of poetry), from PIE *skand- "to spring, leap" (cf. Skt. skandati "hastens, leaps, jumps;" Gk. skandalon "stumbling block;"
M.Ir. sescaind "he sprang, jumped," sceinm "a bound, jump"). Missing -d in English is probably from confusion with suffix -ed (see lawn (1)). Sense of "look at closely, examine" first recorded 1540s. The (opposite) sense of "look over quickly, skim" is first attested 1926. The noun is recorded from 1706. Scanner as a type of mechanical device is recorded from 1927.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

scan (skān)
v. scanned, scan·ning, scans

  1. To move a finely focused beam of light or electrons in a systematic pattern over a surface in order to reproduce or sense and subsequently transmit an image.

  2. To examine a body or a body part with a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.

  3. To search stored computer data automatically for specific data.

n.

  1. The act or an instance of scanning.

  2. Examination of a body or body part by a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.

  3. A picture or an image that is produced by this means.

scan'na·ble adj.
scan'ner n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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