Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To look at carefully or thoroughly, especially in search of something; examine.
  • intransitive verb To look over quickly or read hastily.
  • intransitive verb Computers To search (stored data) automatically for specific data.
  • intransitive verb To direct 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.
  • intransitive verb To direct a radar beam in a systematic pattern across (a sector of sky) in search of a target.
  • intransitive verb To encode (text, for example) in digital format by means of an optical scanner.
  • intransitive verb Medicine To direct x-rays or other energy at (a body or body part) in order to produce an image, as with a CT scanner.
  • intransitive verb To pass (luggage, for example) through a detector at a security checkpoint in order to detect weapons or banned materials.
  • intransitive verb To analyze (verse) into metrical patterns.
  • intransitive verb To analyze verse into metrical patterns.
  • intransitive verb To conform to a metrical pattern.
  • noun The act or an instance of scanning.
  • noun The action or process of scanning a body or body part.
  • noun An image produced by scanning.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • 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.
  • noun An abbreviation of Scandinavian.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
  • transitive verb 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.
  • transitive verb To go over and examine point by point; to examine with care; to look closely at or into; to scrutinize.
  • transitive verb To examine quickly, from point to point, in search of something specific.
  • transitive verb (Electronics) 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To examine sequentially, part by part.
  • verb computing To create a digital copy of an image using a scanner.
  • verb To look about for.
  • verb poetry To fit or conform to a specific meter.
  • verb obsolete To mount by steps; to go through with step by step.
  • noun An instance of scanning.
  • noun The result or output of a scanning process.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb read metrically
  • verb conform to a metrical pattern
  • verb move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an image
  • verb obtain data from magnetic tapes
  • noun an image produced by scanning
  • verb examine hastily
  • noun the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed region
  • verb examine minutely or intensely
  • verb make a wide, sweeping search of

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English scanden, scannen, to scan a verse, from Latin scandere, to climb, scan a verse; see skand- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English scannen, for *scanden < Old French escandir ("to climb, scan"), from Latin scandō ("I climb").

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Examples

  • Smoking weed during a brain scan is harder than it sounds: Link (Wired Science).

    Boing Boing 2007

  • If you dare, click on the label scan and hear a rough recording straight from the original 45.

    Crate Digging Revealed 2009

  • The DXA scan is a test doctors use to help prevent fractures.

    Frequently Asked Questions 2010

  • The technologist will ask why the bone scan is being done, and explain the study to you and your child.

    Bone Scan 2010

  • 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.

    Frequently Asked Questions 2010

  • 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.

    MUGA Scan 2010

  • The technologist will ask why the DMSA scan is being done, and explain the study to you and your child.

    DMSA Scan 2010

  • Therefore, an MRI scan is obtained and interpreted by an experienced pediatric neuroradiologist to rule out any additional CNS anomalies.

    Hydrocephalus 2010

  • A bone scan is a test that evaluates the patient's entire skeleton.

    Bone Scan 2010

  • 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).

    DSIDA (Hepatobiliary) Scan 2010

Comments

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  • Contronymic in the sense: close examination vs. cursory look.

    January 31, 2007