SCAN • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Scan

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/skæn/ Listen

verb

Scan v. t. (past & past part. scanned; pres. part. scanning)

To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. (Obs.) "Nor stayed till she the highest stage had scand."

Specifically (Pros.), to go through with, as a verse, marking and distinguishing the feet of which it is composed; to show, in reading, the metrical structure of; to recite metrically.

To go over and examine point by point; to examine with care; to look closely at or into; to scrutinize. "The actions of men in high stations are all conspicuous, and liable to be scanned and sifted."

To examine quickly, from point to point, in search of something specific; as, to scan an article for mention of a particular person.

(Electronics) To form an image or an electronic representation of, by passing a beam of light or electrons over, and detecting and recording the reflected or transmitted signal.

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Etymology of 'Scan'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Scan" Quotes from Famous Books

... was a line and a communicator, however much they broke down afterwards. But it must be admitted that it is very discomposing and makes one sceptical of messages until they are tested. Of a kin with these false influences are all the Miltons who cannot scan, and Shelleys who cannot rhyme, and Shakespeares who cannot think, and all the other absurd impersonations which make our cause ridiculous. They are, I think, deliberate frauds, either from this side or from the other, but to say that they invalidate the ...

— The New Revelation • Arthur Conan Doyle

... till dey gits wobbly in de legs. Atter dat dey comes up on de front porch an' calls my missus. When she comes ter de do' dey tells her dat dey am goin' in de house ter look things over. My missus dejicts, case ole marster am away at de war, but dat doan do no good. Dey cusses her scan'lous an' dey dares her ter speak. Dey robs de house, takin' dere knives an' splittin' mattresses, pillows an' ever' thing open lookin' fer valerables, an' ole missus ...

— Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States • Various

... entrance to this part of the trail, he was surprised to notice the sudden disappearance of the tracks of the catamount. Rapidly did his eye scan every spot within jumping distance, and still not a vestige of a footstep was visible. However, he was not to be deceived, but, knowing the habits of these animals, he carefully examined the trunks of the trees close at hand, and on one of them he found the marks of the creature's claws, ...

— Oowikapun - How the Gospel Reached the Nelson River Indians • Egerton Ryerson Young

... watched for a reply. He could not endure the idea of receiving it where Margaret's eyes could scan the emotion he could now only conceal by a visible rigidity of demeanour, and he daily went himself to the post-office, but in vain. He received nothing but business letters, and among them one from Markham, ...

— The Heir of Redclyffe • Charlotte M. Yonge

... life are different; and were I to scan your motives and career with the scrutinizing eyes of friendship, it might only serve to separate us yet more. I am sick of the great juggle of ambition, and I have no sympathy left for those who creep into the pint-bottle, or swallow ...

— Alice, or The Mysteries, Book III • Edward Bulwer Lytton

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