Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To examine closely.
- v. To look over quickly and systematically: scanning the horizon for signs of land.
- v. To look over or leaf through hastily: scanned the newspaper while eating breakfast.
- v. To analyze (verse) into metrical patterns.
- v. Electronics To move a finely focused beam of light or electrons in a systematic pattern over (a surface) in order to reproduce or sense and subsequently transmit an image.
- v. Electronics To move a radar beam in a systematic pattern over (a sector of sky) in search of a target.
- v. Computer Science To search (stored data) automatically for specific data.
- v. Medicine To examine (a body or body part) with a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.
- v. To digitally encode (text, for example) with an optical scanner.
- v. To analyze verse into metrical patterns.
- v. To conform to a metrical pattern.
- v. Electronics To undergo electronic scanning.
- n. The act or an instance of scanning.
- n. Scope or field of vision.
- n. Examination of a body or body part by a CAT scanner or similar scanning apparatus.
- n. A picture or image produced by this means.
- n. A single sweep of the beam of electrons across a television screen.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To climb; mount.
- To examine by counting the metrical feet or syllables; read or recite so as to indicate the metrical structure.
- Hence To go over and examine point by point; examine minutely or nicely; scrutinize.
- To follow or agree with the rules of meter: as, lines that scan well.
- n. An abbreviation of Scandinavian.
Wiktionary
- n. The result or output of a scan.
- v. To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
- v. To examine sequentially, part by part.
- v. To create a digital copy of an image using a scanner.
- v. To look about for.
- v. To fit or conform to a specific meter.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
- v. Specifically (Pros.), to go through with, as a verse, marking and distinguishing the feet of which it is composed; to show, in reading, the metrical structure of; to recite metrically.
- v. To go over and examine point by point; to examine with care; to look closely at or into; to scrutinize.
- v. To examine quickly, from point to point, in search of something specific.
- v. To form an image or an electronic representation of, by passing a beam of light or electrons over, and detecting and recording the reflected or transmitted signal.
WordNet 3.0
- v. read metrically
- v. conform to a metrical pattern
- v. move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image
- v. obtain data from magnetic tapes
- n. an image produced by scanning
- v. examine hastily
- n. the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
- v. examine minutely or intensely
- v. make a wide, sweeping search of
Etymologies
- Middle English scanden, scannen, to scan a verse, from Latin scandere, to climb, scan a verse; see skand- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Smoking weed during a brain scan is harder than it sounds: Link (Wired Science).”
“If you dare, click on the label scan and hear a rough recording straight from the original 45.”
“A bone scan is a test that evaluates the patient's entire skeleton.”
“The technologist will ask why the DMSA scan is being done, and explain the study to you and your child.”
“The technologist will ask why the bone scan is being done, and explain the study to you and your child.”
“Therefore, an MRI scan is obtained and interpreted by an experienced pediatric neuroradiologist to rule out any additional CNS anomalies.”
“A DISIDA scan is an exam of the gallbladder and the hepatobiliary system (the ducts connecting the gallbladder to the liver and the small bowel).”
“A MUGA (MUltiple Gated Acquisition) scan is a test that evaluates the Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction (LVEF) which is the percent of blood being pumped from the left ventricle of the heart out to the body.”
“The DXA scan is a test doctors use to help prevent fractures.”
“A dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan is a test that takes measurements of the bone density in the lower spine and/or the hip.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘scan’.
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I am : looking
To describe facial expressions when attending to something.
look, peer, glance, stare, glare, glower, ogle, peek, observe, scrutinize, gaze, gape and 18 more...
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Alternatives to LOOK
Look is a boring word.
admire, focus, contemplate, gawk, inspect, scan, scrutinized, spot, study, observe, gaze, stare and 3 more...
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Yes We Can
can-, -can, or even -can-.
candelabra, parcan, incantation, Canada, candida, Candide, toucan, can-can, cancan, cannabis, incandescent, canticle and 26 more...
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Here's Looking At You Kid
Synonyms or funny substitutes for the word 'look'.
gaze, glare, saw, penned, peeked, poked, bore, blazed, glance, search, gaped, gawped and 29 more...

oroboros Contronymic in the sense: close examination vs. cursory look. Jan 31, 2007