scope

¹

[skohp]

noun

1. extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc..

   an investigation of wide scope.

2. space for movement or activity; opportunity for operation.

   to give one's fancy full scope.

   Synonyms: liberty, room, sweep, reach, range, extent, breadth, ambit

3. extent in space; a tract or area.

4. length.

   a scope of cable.

5. aim or purpose.

6. Linguistics, Logic.,  the range of words or elements of an expression over which a modifier or operator has control.

   In “old men and women,” “old” may either take “men and women” or just “men” in its scope.

7. (used as a short form of microscope, oscilloscope, periscope, radarscope, riflescope, telescopic sight, etc.)

verb (used with object)

scoped, scoping 

1. Slang.,  to look at, read, or investigate, as in order to evaluate or appreciate.

verb phrase

1. scope out

   1. to look at or over; examine; check out.

      a rock musician scoping out the audience before going on stage.

   2. to master; figure out.

      By the time we'd scoped out the problem, it was too late.

-scope

²

1. a combining form meaning “instrument for viewing,” used in the formation of compound words.

   telescope.

scope

¹

/ skəʊp /

noun

1. opportunity for exercising the faculties or abilities; capacity for action

   plenty of scope for improvement

2. range of view, perception, or grasp; outlook

3. the area covered by an activity, topic, etc; range

   the scope of his thesis was vast

4. nautical slack left in an anchor cable

5. logic linguistics that part of an expression that is governed by a given operator: the scope of the negation in PV– ( q ∧ r ) is –( q ∧ r )

6. informal,  short for telescope microscope oscilloscope

7. archaic,  purpose or aim

verb

1. informal,  to look at or examine carefully

-scope

²

combining form

1. indicating an instrument for observing, viewing, or detecting

   microscope

   stethoscope

Other Word Forms

• scopeless adjective
• -scopic combining form

Word History and Origins

Origin of scope¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Italian scopo, from Greek skopós “aim, mark to shoot at”; akin to skopeîn “to look at” ( -scope )

Origin of scope²

< New Latin -scopium < Greek -skopion, -skopeion, equivalent to skop ( eîn ) to look at (akin to sképtesthai to look, view carefully; skeptic ) + -ion, -eion noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of scope¹

C16: from Italian scopo goal, from Latin scopus, from Greek skopos target; related to Greek skopein to watch

Origin of scope²

from New Latin -scopium, from Greek -skopion, from skopein to look at

Synonym Study

See range.

Example Sentences

As ever, there is always scope for unforeseen wrinkles or unrelated stuff that pushes things back a bit.

From BBC

If Sir Laurie's report left scope for the deputy prime minister to stay on, it's not an easy argument to make after all the revelations of recent days.

From BBC

As well as seeing a massive increase in reports, he said instances of jamming had spread "both geographically and in scope", going from being initially limited to the eastern parts of Swedish airspace over international waters to Swedish land and waters.

From BBC

"Its scope has been expanded consistently in subsequent administrations," he added.

From BBC

The polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice says that research has shown Scotland is slightly more left-wing than England, so perhaps there is scope for a breakthrough?

From BBC

Related Words

• breadth 
• capacity 
• extension 
• opportunity 
• outlook 
• purview 
• sphere