scale
Other forms: scales; scaled
A scale is a series that climbs up or down. Think of scaling, or climbing, a mountain; a musical scale: do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do; or a scale you weigh yourself on––it counts up the pounds one after another after another.
Scale can be a ratio too––when maps are drawn "to scale," that means one mile of real road might translate to one inch of road on the map. Even fish scales can be understood this way––they repeat the same shape row after row after row. You can also rate something using a scale: "How much do you love pizza? Rate it on a scale of one to ten, with one being blech and ten being amazing."
-
an ordered reference standard“judging on a scale of 1 to 10”synonyms: graduated table, ordered series, scale of measurementtypes:indexa numerical scale used to compare variables with one another or with some reference numberlogarithmic scalescale on which actual distances from the origin are proportional to the logarithms of the corresponding scale numbersMercalli scalea scale formerly used to describe the magnitude of an earthquake; an earthquake detected only by seismographs is a I and an earthquake that destroys all buildings is a XIIMohs scalea scale of hardness of solids; talc is 0 and diamond is 10; ordering is determined by which substance can scratch another substanceRichter scalea logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 formerly used to express the magnitude of an earthquake on the basis of the size of seismograph oscillationsmoment magnitude scalea logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 (a successor to the Richter scale) that enables seismologists to compare the energy released by different earthquakes on the basis of the area of the geological fault that ruptured in the quaketemperature scalea system of measuring temperatureCelsius scale, centigrade scale, international scalea temperature scale that defines the freezing point of water as 0 degrees and the boiling point of water as 100 degreesFahrenheit scalea temperature scale that defines the freezing point of water as 32 degrees and the boiling point of water a 212 degreesKelvin scale, absolute scalea temperature scale that defines absolute zero as 0 degrees; water freezes at 273.16 degrees and boils at 373.16 degreesRankine scalea scale of absolute temperature in Fahrenheit degrees; the freezing point of water is 491.69 degrees and the boiling point of water is 671.69 degreesReaumur scalea temperature scale on which water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 80 degreessliding scalea wage scale that fluctuates in response to the cost-of-living indextype of:criterion, measure, standard, touchstonea basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated
-
an indicator having a graduated sequence of markstypes:vernier, vernier scalea small movable scale that slides along a main scale; the small scale is calibrated to indicate fractional divisions of the main scaletype of:indicatora device for showing the operating condition of some system
-
a measuring instrument for weighing; shows amount of masssynonyms: weighing machinetypes:balancea scale for weighing; depends on pull of gravityweighbridgeplatform scale flush with a roadway for weighing vehicles and cattle etcbeam balancea balance consisting of a lever with two equal arms and a pan suspended from each armelectronic balancea balance that generates a current proportional to the displacement of the panmicrobalancebalance for weighing very small objectsbeam scale, lever scale, steelyarda portable balance consisting of a pivoted bar with arms of unequal lengthtype of:measuring device, measuring instrument, measuring systeminstrument that shows the extent or amount or quantity or degree of something
-
pattern, make, regulate, set, measure, or estimate according to some rate or standard
-
measure by or as if by a scale“This bike scales only 25 pounds”type of:measurehave certain dimensions
-
measure with or as if with scales
-
the ratio between the size of something and a representation of it“the scale of the map”“the scale of the model”type of:proportionthe quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
-
relative magnitude
-
size or measure according to a scale“This model must be scaled down”type of:sizemake to a size; bring to a suitable size
-
(music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave)synonyms: musical scaletypes:gamutthe entire scale of musical notesdiatonic scalea scale with eight notes in an octave; all but two are separated by whole toneschromatic scalea 12-note scale including all the semitones of the octavegapped scalea musical scale with fewer than seven notespentatone, pentatonic scalea gapped scale with five notes; usually the fourth and seventh notes of the diatonic scale are omittedtype of:musical notation(music) notation used by musicians
-
a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin
-
a flattened rigid plate forming part of the body covering of many animalstypes:fish scalescale of the kind that covers the bodies of fishsquamaa protective structure resembling a scaletype of:
-
a specialized leaf or bract that protects a bud or catkinsynonyms: scale leaf
-
a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners)types:armor plate, armor plating, armour plate, plate armor, plate armourspecially hardened steel plate used to protect fortifications or vehicles from enemy fireshell platingthe plates covering the frame of a steel ship and corresponding to the planking of a wooden shipbackplateplate armor protecting the back; worn as part of a cuirassbeavera movable piece of armor on a medieval helmet used to protect the lower facebrassardarmor plate that protects the armcannon(Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect the armchamfron, chanfron, front-stall, frontstall, testieremedieval plate armor to protect a horse's headcubitierebody armor that protects the elbowcuissearmor plate that protects the thighepaulierearmor plate that protects the shoulderfaulda piece of armor plate below the breastplategorgetarmor plate that protects the neckhelmetarmor plate that protects the headknee piecearmor plate that protects the kneenosepiecearmor plate that protects the noseroundelround piece of armor plate that protects the armpitskirt of tassesarmor plate that protects the body below the waisttuillearmor plate that protects the hip and thightype of:shielda protective covering or structure
-
remove the scales from
-
climb up by means of a ladder
-
take by attacking with scaling ladders“The troops scaled the walls of the fort”type of:taketake by force
-
reach the highest point of
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing scale
The top 1,000 vocabulary words have been carefully chosen to represent difficult but common words that appear in everyday academic and business writing. These words are also the most likely to appear on the SAT, ACT, GRE, and ToEFL. To create this list, we started with the words that give our users the most trouble and then ranked them by how frequently they appear in our corpus of billions of words from edited sources. If you only have time to study one list of words, this is the list.
Context is king — that’s the lesson you need to internalize as you begin preparing for the vocabulary questions on the SAT. We have identified this pool of 200 words that cut across the disciplines and lend themselves well to context-dependent interpretation. As you learn this list on Vocabulary.com, you will have to rely on context clues in order to determine each word’s meaning in particular sentences. This is the same type of thinking you will need to develop in order to succeed on the SAT! Following our Roadmap to the SAT? Head back to see what else you should be learning this week.