score

/skɔər/

/skɔ/

Other forms: scored; scores; scoring

When you're playing a game, your score is the number of points you have. If the score of a basketball game is 34 to 34, it means both teams have 34 points — the score is tied.

To score in a game is to achieve points or goals. In school, you get a score, or a grade, on your tests and papers. Another kind of score is the written part of a musical composition. And when someone asks, "What's the score?" they might also mean "What's going on?" The Gettysburg Address famously begins, "Four score and seven years ago..." In this case, a score is "twenty," from the Old English scoru, also "twenty."

Definitions of score

1. noun

   a number that expresses the accomplishment of a team or an individual in a game or contest
   “the score was 7 to 0”

   types:

   bowling score

   the score in a bowling match

   football score

   the score in a football game

   baseball score

   the score of a baseball game

   basketball score

   the score in a basketball game

   stroke

   (golf) the unit of scoring in golf is the act of hitting the ball with a club

   birdie

   (golf) a score of one stroke under par on a hole

   bogey

   (golf) a score of one stroke over par on a hole

   deficit

   (sports) the score by which a team or individual is losing

   double-bogey

   (golf) a score of two strokes over par for a hole

   duck, duck's egg

   (cricket) a score of nothing by a batsman

   eagle

   (golf) a score of two strokes under par on a hole

   double eagle

   (golf) a score of three strokes under par on a hole

   game

   (games) the score at a particular point or the score needed to win

   lead

   (sports) the score by which a team or individual is winning

   love

   a score of zero in tennis or squash

   match

   the score needed to win a match

   par

   (golf) the standard number of strokes set for each hole on a golf course, or for the entire course

   type of:

   number

   a concept of quantity involving zero and units
2. noun

   a number or letter indicating quality (especially of a student's performance)
   “what was your score on your homework?”

   synonyms: grade, mark

   types:

   grade point

   a numerical value assigned to a letter grade received in a course taken at a college or university multiplied by the number of credit hours awarded for the course

   centile, percentile

   (statistics) a score with a value between 1 and 99 indicating how much of a distribution is equal to or below that score

   decile

   (statistics) any of nine points that divided a distribution of ranked scores into equal intervals where each interval contains one-tenth of the scores

   quartile

   (statistics) any of three points that divide an ordered distribution into four parts each containing one quarter of the scores

   type of:

   evaluation, rating, valuation

   an appraisal of the value of something
3. noun

   the act of scoring in a game or sport
   “the winning score came with less than a minute left to play”

   types:

   bull's eye

   in target shooting: a score made by hitting the center of the target

   goal

   a successful attempt at scoring

   strike, ten-strike

   a score in tenpins: knocking down all ten with the first ball

   spare

   a score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls

   break, open frame

   any frame in which a bowler fails to make a strike or spare

   safety

   a score in American football; a player is tackled behind his own goal line

   touchdown

   a score in American football; being in possession of the ball across the opponents' goal line

   field goal

   a score in American football; a score made by kicking the ball between the opponents' goal posts

   conversion

   a successful free throw or try for point after a touchdown

   run, tally

   a score in baseball made by a runner touching all four bases safely

   basket, field goal

   a score in basketball made by throwing the ball through the hoop

   hat trick

   (sports) three consecutive scores by one player or three scores in one game (as in cricket or ice hockey etc.)

   break, break of serve

   (tennis) a score consisting of winning a game when your opponent was serving

   equalizer

   a score that makes the match even

   own goal

   (soccer) a goal that results when a player inadvertently knocks the ball into the goal he is defending

   extra point, point after, point after touchdown

   in American football a point awarded for a successful place kick following a touchdown

   earned run

   a run that was not scored as the result of an error by the other team

   unearned run

   a run that was scored as a result of an error by the other team

   rbi, run batted in

   a run that is the result of the batter's performance

   type of:

   success

   an attainment that is successful
4. verb

   gain points in a game
   “The home team scored many times”

   synonyms: hit, rack up, tally

   types:

   par

   make a score (on a hole) equal to par

   shoot

   score

   convert

   score (a spare)

   convert

   complete successfully

   convert

   score an extra point or points after touchdown by kicking the ball through the uprights or advancing the ball into the end zone

   homer

   hit a home run

   kick

   make a goal

   eagle

   shoot in two strokes under par

   hole up

   score a hole in one

   ace

   score an ace against

   walk

   obtain a base on balls

   equalise, equalize, get even

   compensate; make the score equal

   get, have, make

   achieve a point or goal

   place-kick

   score (a goal) by making a place kick

   type of:

   advance, gain, gain ground, get ahead, make headway, pull ahead, win

   obtain advantages, such as points, etc.
5. verb

   get a certain number or letter indicating quality or performance
   “She scored high on the SAT”

   “He scored a 200”

   types:

   test

   achieve a certain score or rating on a test

   type of:

   accomplish, achieve, attain, reach

   gain with effort
6. verb

   assign a grade or rank to, according to one's evaluation
   “score the SAT essays”

   synonyms: grade, mark

   type of:

   appraise, assess, evaluate, measure, valuate, value

   evaluate or estimate the nature, quality, ability, extent, or significance of
7. noun

   a written form of a musical composition; parts for different instruments appear on separate staves on large pages
   “he studied the score of the sonata”

   synonyms: musical score

   type of:

   sheet music

   a musical composition in printed or written form
8. verb

   write a musical score for
   types:

   orchestrate

   write an orchestra score for

   type of:

   compose, write

   write music
9. noun

   grounds
   “he tried to blame the victim but his success on that score was doubtful”

   synonyms: account

   type of:

   ground, reason

   a rational motive for a belief or action
10. noun

    the facts about an actual situation
    “he didn't know the score”

    type of:

    fact

    a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred
11. verb

    make underscoring marks
    synonyms: mark

    types:

    cancel, invalidate

    make invalid for use

    type of:

    enter, put down, record

    make a record of; set down in permanent form
12. verb

    make small marks into the surface of
    “score the clay before firing it”

    synonyms: mark, nock

    mark, pit, pock, scar

    mark with a scar

    types:

    scarify

    scratch the surface of

    scotch

    make a small cut or score into

    scribe

    score a line on with a pointed instrument, as in metalworking

    line

    mark with lines

    reline

    put new lines on

    hatch

    draw, cut, or engrave lines, usually parallel, on metal, wood, or paper

    crisscross

    mark with or consist of a pattern of crossed lines

    type of:

    notch

    cut or make a notch into
13. noun

    a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally)
    synonyms: scotch

    type of:

    dent, incision, prick, scratch, slit

    a depression scratched or carved into a surface
14. noun

    an amount due (as at a restaurant or bar)
    “add it to my score and I'll settle later”

    type of:

    debt

    money or goods or services owed by one person to another
15. noun

    a resentment strong enough to justify retaliation
    “settling a score”

    synonyms: grievance, grudge

    type of:

    bitterness, gall, rancor, rancour, resentment

    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
16. noun

    a seduction culminating in sexual intercourse
    types:

    cuckoldry

    the practice of making cuckolds; sexual conquests of married women

    type of:

    conquest, seduction

    an act of winning the love or sexual favor of someone
17. verb

    induce to have sex
    synonyms:

    seduce

    lure or entice away from duty, principles, or proper conduct

    type of:

    persuade

    cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm
18. noun

    a set of twenty members
    “a score were sent out but only one returned”

    type of:

    set

    a group of things of the same kind that belong together and are so used