scale

Definition

  • noun: a device that is used for weighing people or things
  • noun: either pan or tray of a balance
  • noun: a small, flattened, rigid, and definitely circumscribed plate forming part of the external body covering especially of a fish
  • verb: to remove the scales from (a fish)
  • verb: to weigh in 'scales'
  • verb: to climb to the top of (something)
  • usually singular
  • synonyms: scatter, spread, separate

Examples

  • The model of the new city hall is 'to scale'. [=the model shows exactly how the parts will relate to each other when it is built]

  • She 'scaled the heights of' the publishing industry. [=she rose to a very high position in the publishing industry]

  • Their equipment isn't suitable for 'large-scale' production. [=it cannot be used to make things in large amounts]

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) Every second, worse than the last. One of the first things they ask you in the ER... is to rate your pain on a scale from one to ten. I've been asked this question hundreds of times... and it felt like my chest was on fire... the nurse asked me (..)
    2014 The Fault in Our Stars