scales m ; m\; ;
m
Scale O-w /skeil/ noun, verb
mnoun
►
SIZE 1 [sing., U] ~ (of sth) the size or extent of sth,
especially when compared with sth else ( X fa ^ ^ fife
f£0H, SfS!: They entertain on a
large scale (= they hold expensive parties with a lot
of guests). fifed AIE^^c, 0 Here was corruption
on a grand scale. o On a global
scale, 77% of energy is
created from fossil fuels, 77% k o to achieve economies of scale
in production (= to produce many
items so the cost of producing each one is reduced) A JIM!! 4.7* 0 It was impossible to
comprehend the full scale of the disaster.
o It was not
until morning that the
sheer scale of the damage could be seen (= how great it was). M III ■¥- H A # ft T M ® T* JE J§! c — see also full-scale, large-scale,
SMALL-SCALE
►
RANGE OF LEVELS 2 [C] a range of levels or
numbers
used for measuring sth #
&; ^O]: a five-point pay scale 5 ^ ft1! i $r 0 to evaluate performance on a scale from 1 to
10
1$ 1 fij 10 —see also
Richter scale, sliding scale, timescale 3 [C, usually sing.] the set of all the
different levels of sth, from the lowest to the highest # : At the other end of the
scale, life is a constant
struggle to get enough to eat. ^
miW)7im.o 0 the social
scale
►
MARKS FOR MEASURING fli M#® 4 [C] a series of marks
at regular intervals on an instrument that is used for measuring
; MIX: How much does it read on the scale?
►
WEIGHING INSTRUMENT fr
^ 5 scales [pi.] (NAmE also scale) an instrument for
weighing people or things ;
;
A-f -: bathroom/kitchen/weighing scales ?§%
ff O (figurative) the
scales of justice (= represented as the two pans on a balance(5))
AdEWAA
►
OF MAP/DIAGRAM/MODEL fife^; 6 [C] the rela
tion
between the actual size of sth and its size on a map, diagram or model that
represents it it #]; it #|| R
: a scale of
are drawn to the same
scale. —
rdll^Jo 0 Is this diagram to
scale (= are all its parts the
same size and shape in relation to each other as they are in the thing
represented)?
►
IN MUSIC m ft\ 7 [C] a series of
musical notes moving upwards or downwards, with fixed intervals between each
note, especially a series of eight starting on a particular note # [5fh the scale of C major
0 to practise scales on
the piano —
compare key /?.(5),
octave
►
OF FISH/REPTILE ft; K&j&to 8 [C] any of the thin
plates of hard material that cover the skin of many fish and
REPTILES $Mf
►
IN WATER PIPES, ETC. 9 (BrE also
fur) [U] a hard
greyish-white substance that is
sometimes left inside water pipes and containers for heating water 7jc#5; A ^ —
see also limescale
►
ON TEETH ft A 10
[U]
a hard substance that forms on teeth,
especially when they are not cleaned regularly fig; A — compare plaque(2)
IR?B see tip v.
■
verb [VN]
►
CLIMB I#®- 1 (formal) to climb to the top of sth very
high and steep %: the first woman to
scale
(figurative) He has scaled
the heights of his profession.
„
►
FISH ft 2 to remove the small
flat hard pieces of skin from a fish XM
►
TEETH ft iAf 3 to remove tartar
from the teeth by
scraping gij l&jftftj’: The dentist scaled and
polished my teeth. MltTZ-ifi0
►
CHANGE SIZE 4 (technical Ai«) to change the
size of sth J AA: Text can be scaled
from 4
points to 108 points without
any loss of quality. IE A ft
uuk 4 io8 (Hep®
.scale
sth~down (NAmE also .scale sth<-back)
to
reduce the number, size or extent of sth M 'p (
ft ) ; tfc'f ( ) : We are thinking of
scaling
down our training
programmes next year. ^
illlit^Jo 0 The IMF has scaled
back its growth forecasts for the next decade.
§1 Sf
rfi B ig fit fiS;
To
note
at cut .scale sth~ up to increase the size or
number of sth iff A, IT A ( $gJ$$ft )
sca lene tri-angle /.skeiliin
‘traiaerjgl/ noun (geometry /Ifft) a triangle whose sides are all of
different lengths — picture o triangle
seal-lion /'skaelian/ noun
(NAmE, IrishE) = spring onion
scal-lop/'sknlap; NAmE'skaelap/
noun, verb
mnoun 1 a shellfish that can be eaten, with two flat round shells that fit
together H ft: a scallop shell M ft % 2 any one of a series
of small curves cut on the edge of a piece of cloth, pastry, etc. for decoration (
)
MBtm;
■
verb [VN] [usually
passive] to decorate the edge of sth with
small curves ftp±Ji^i£: a scalloped edge
scally /'skaeli/ noun (pi. -ies) (BrE, informal) (used especially in
scally wag /'skaeliwaeg/ (BrE)
(NAmE scala-wag) noun (informal) a person, especially a
child, who behaves badly, but not in a serious way ( ) am scamp
scalp /skaelp/ noun, verb
m noun 1 the skin that covers
the part of the head where the hair grows A R 2 (in the past) the skin and hair
that was removed from the head of a dead enemy by some Native American peoples
as a sign of victory ( IB
3 (informal) a symbol of the fact
that sb has been defeated or punished (
$J ) They have claimed some
impressive scalps in
their bid for the
championship.
±ii#niio
■
verb [VN] 1 to remove the
skin and hair from the top of
an enemy’s head as a sign
of victory ( #A$^Jpp, A «£ltt&AA± ) 2 (NAmE) = tout v.(3)
seal-pel /'skaelpal/ noun a small sharp knife
used by doctors in medical operations ^r'JJJ;
ft-AA