(n.) The dish of a balance; hence, the balance itself; an instrument or machine for weighing; as, to turn the scale; -- chiefly used in the plural when applied to the whole instrument or apparatus for weighing. Also used figuratively.
(n.) The sign or constellation Libra.
(v. t.) To weigh or measure according to a scale; to measure; also, to grade or vary according to a scale or system.
(n.) One of the small, thin, membranous, bony or horny pieces which form the covering of many fishes and reptiles, and some mammals, belonging to the dermal part of the skeleton, or dermoskeleton. See Cycloid, Ctenoid, and Ganoid.
(n.) Hence, any layer or leaf of metal or other material, resembling in size and thinness the scale of a fish; as, a scale of iron, of bone, etc.
(n.) One of the small scalelike structures covering parts of some invertebrates, as those on the wings of Lepidoptera and on the body of Thysanura; the elytra of certain annelids. See Lepidoptera.
(n.) A scale insect. (See below.)
(n.) A small appendage like a rudimentary leaf, resembling the scales of a fish in form, and often in arrangement; as, the scale of a bud, of a pine cone, and the like. The name is also given to the chaff on the stems of ferns.
(n.) The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife. See Illust. of Pocketknife.
(n.) An incrustation deposit on the inside of a vessel in which water is heated, as a steam boiler.
(n.) The thin oxide which forms on the surface of iron forgings. It consists essentially of the magnetic oxide, Fe3O4. Also, a similar coating upon other metals.
(v. t.) To strip or clear of scale or scales; as, to scale a fish; to scale the inside of a boiler.
(v. t.) To take off in thin layers or scales, as tartar from the teeth; to pare off, as a surface.
(v. t.) To scatter; to spread.
(v. t.) To clean, as the inside of a cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder.
(v. i.) To separate and come off in thin layers or laminae; as, some sandstone scales by exposure.
(v. i.) To separate; to scatter.
(n.) A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
(n.) Hence, anything graduated, especially when employed as a measure or rule, or marked by lines at regular intervals.
(n.) A mathematical instrument, consisting of a slip of wood, ivory, or metal, with one or more sets of spaces graduated and numbered on its surface, for measuring or laying off distances, etc., as in drawing, plotting, and the like. See Gunter's scale.
(n.) A series of spaces marked by lines, and representing proportionately larger distances; as, a scale of miles, yards, feet, etc., for a map or plan.
(n.) A basis for a numeral system; as, the decimal scale; the binary scale, etc.
(n.) The graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the keynote to its octave; -- called also the gamut. It may be repeated through any number of octaves. See Chromatic scale, Diatonic scale, Major scale, and Minor scale, under Chromatic, Diatonic, Major, and Minor.
(n.) Gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order; as, a scale of being.
(n.) Relative dimensions, without difference in proportion of parts; size or degree of the parts or components in any complex thing, compared with other like things; especially, the relative proportion of the linear dimensions of the parts of a drawing, map, model, etc., to the dimensions of the corresponding parts of the object that is represented; as, a map on a scale of an inch to a mile.
(v. t.) To climb by a ladder, or as if by a ladder; to ascend by steps or by climbing; to clamber up; as, to scale the wall of a fort.
(v. i.) To lead up by steps; to ascend.
Example Sentences:
(1) The clinical usefulness of neonatal narcotic abstinence scales is reviewed, with special reference to their application in treatment.
(2) Since the start of this week, markets have been more cautious, with bond yields in Spain reaching their highest levels in four months on Tuesday amid concern about the scale of the austerity measures being imposed by the government and fears that the country might need a bailout.
(3) During the chronic phase, pain was assessed using visual analogue scales at 8 AM and 4 PM daily.
(4) Implications of the theory for hypothesis testing, theory construction, and scales of measurement are considered.
(5) The spatial spread or blur parameter of the blobs was adopted as a scale parameter.
(6) A full-scale war is unlikely but there is clear concern in Seoul about the more realistic threat of a small-scale attack on the South Korean military or a group of islands near the countries' disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.
(7) While both inhibitors caused thermosensitization, they did not affect the time scale for the development of thermotolerance at 42 degrees C or after acute heating at 45 degrees C. The inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribosylation) radiosensitizers and thermosensitizers may be of use in the treatment of cancer using a combined modality of radiation and hyperthermia.
(8) The move to an alliance model is not only to achieve greater scale and reach, although growing from 15 partner organisations to 50 members is not to be sniffed at.
(9) However, the effects of such large-scale calvarial repositioning on subsequent brain mass growth trajectories and compensatory cranio-facial growth changes is unclear.
(10) The usefulness of the proposed method is obvious in cases where the composition of a precipitate on LM scale is to be compared with the LM appearance of the surrounding tissue.
(11) Meanwhile Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, waiting anxiously for news of the scale of the Labour advance in his first nationwide electoral test, will urge the electorate not to be duped by the promise of a coalition mark 2, predicting sham concessions by the Conservatives .
(12) Potential revisions of the scale, as well as cautions for its use in clinical applications on its present form are discussed.
(13) High score on the hysteria scale of Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire was a risk indicator for all kinds of back pain.
(14) Assessments were made daily by patients, using visual analogue scales, of their pain levels at rest, at night and on activity, and of the limitation of their activity.
(15) Physicians and adolescents differed significantly in the ratings of all but one scale, weight.
(16) There are questions with regard to the interpretation of some of the newer content scales of the MMPI-2, whereas most clinicians feel comfortably familiar, even if not entirely satisfied, with the Wiggins Content Scales of the MMPI.
(17) Six patients showed an improvement greater than 50% on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.
(18) The system of automated diagnosis makes it possible to significantly increase the quality and efficacy of wide-scale prophylactic check-ups of the population.
(19) Meanwhile, the efficacy and side effects were observed clinically by using scale (BRMS, CGI and TESS).
(20) The norms are reported as "Scaled Score Equivalents of Raw Scores" for each age group and as "IQ Equivalents of Sums of Scaled Scores."