What does "scale" mean?
A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
Scale
/skæɪl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
- Grammar: scale is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: accommodation ladder, adjust, adjust, aeronautical chart.
- Useful contrasts: scale concept.
- Usage evidence: Please put your baggage on this scale.
How to use "scale"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "scale" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "scale" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "scale" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "scale" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "scale" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accommodation ladder" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "scale", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending. obsolete
- 2 Part of an overlapping arrangement of many small, flat and hard pieces of keratin covering the skin of an animal, particularly a fish or reptile. countable, uncountable
"Fish that, with their fins and shining scales, / Glide under the green wave."
- 3 A device to measure mass or weight.
"After the long, lazy winter I was afraid to get on the scale."
- 4 a flattened rigid plate forming part of the body covering of many animals wordnet
- 5 An ordered, usually numerical sequence used for measurement; means of assigning a magnitude.
"Please rate your experience on a scale from 1 to 10."
Show 26 more definitions
- 6 A small piece of pigmented chitin, many of which coat the wings of a butterfly or moth to give them their color. countable, uncountable
- 7 Either of the pans, trays, or dishes of a balance or scales.
- 8 a metal sheathing of uniform thickness (such as the shield attached to an artillery piece to protect the gunners) wordnet
- 9 Size; scope.
"There are some who question the scale of our ambitions."
- 10 A flake of skin of an animal afflicted with dermatitis. countable, uncountable
- 11 an indicator having a graduated sequence of marks wordnet
- 12 The ratio of depicted distance to actual distance.
"This map uses a scale of 1:10."
- 13 Part of an overlapping arrangement of many small, flat and hard protective layers forming a pinecone that flare when mature to release pine nut seeds. countable, uncountable
- 14 a measuring instrument for weighing; shows amount of mass wordnet
- 15 A line or bar associated with a drawing, used to indicate measurement when the image has been magnified or reduced.
"Even though precision can be carried to an extreme, the scales which now are drawn in (and usually connected to an appropriate figure by an arrow) will allow derivation of meaningful measurements."
- 16 The flaky material sloughed off heated metal. uncountable
- 17 (music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave) wordnet
- 18 A series of notes spanning an octave, tritave, or pseudo-octave, used to make melodies.
- 19 Scale mail (as opposed to chain mail). countable, uncountable
- 20 a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin wordnet
- 21 A mathematical base for a numeral system; radix.
"the decimal scale, the binary scale"
- 22 Limescale. uncountable
- 23 a specialized leaf or bract that protects a bud or catkin wordnet
- 24 Gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order.
"There is a certain scale of duties […] which for want of studying in right order, all the world is in confusion."
- 25 A scale insect. countable, uncountable
- 26 relative magnitude wordnet
- 27 A standard amount of money to be paid for a service, for example union-negotiated amounts received by a performer or writer; similar to wage scale or pay grade.
"Sally wasn't the star of the show, so she was glad to be paid scale."
- 28 The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife. countable, uncountable
- 29 the ratio between the size of something and a representation of it wordnet
- 30 An infestation of scale insects on a plant; commonly thought of as, or mistaken for, a disease. US, uncountable
- 31 an ordered reference standard wordnet
Verb
- 1 To change the size of something whilst maintaining proportion; especially to change a process in order to produce much larger amounts of the final product. transitive
"We should scale that up by a factor of 10."
- 2 To remove the scales of. transitive
"Please scale that fish for dinner."
- 3 size or measure according to a scale wordnet
- 4 To climb to the top of. transitive
"Hilary and Norgay were the first known to have scaled Everest."
- 5 To become scaly; to produce or develop scales. intransitive
"The dry weather is making my skin scale."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 measure with or as if with scales wordnet
- 7 To tolerate significant increases in throughput or other potentially limiting factors. intransitive
"That architecture won't scale to real-world environments."
- 8 To strip or clear of scale; to descale. transitive
"to scale the inside of a boiler"
- 9 remove the scales from wordnet
- 10 To weigh, measure or grade according to a scale or system. transitive
"Scaling his present bearing with his past."
- 11 To take off in thin layers or scales, as tartar from the teeth; to pare off, as a surface. transitive
"1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth if all the mountains and hills were scaled, and the earth made even"
- 12 pattern, make, regulate, set, measure, or estimate according to some rate or standard wordnet
- 13 To take measurements from (an engineering drawing), treating them as (or as if) reliable dimensional instructions. This practice often works but can produce latently incorrect results and is thus usually deprecated. transitive
"Every single print that goes out our door has a warning in its title block telling the world, "Do not scale this drawing.""
- 14 To separate and come off in thin layers or laminae. intransitive
"Some sandstone scales by exposure."
- 15 climb up by means of a ladder wordnet
- 16 To scatter; to spread. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 17 reach the highest point of wordnet
- 18 To clean, as the inside of a cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder. transitive
"cannons […]caused to be scaled and loaded"
- 19 take by attacking with scaling ladders wordnet
- 20 measure by or as if by a scale wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
scale concept
Example
"Please put your baggage on this scale."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "scale"?
Common synonyms include: accommodation ladder, adjust, adjust, aeronautical chart, alloy balance, amount.
How do you use "scale" in a sentence?
Please put your baggage on this scale.
How do you pronounce "scale"?
Pronounced /skæɪl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English scale, from Latin scāla, usually in plural scālae (“a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder”), for *skand-slā, from scandō (“I climb”); see scan, ascend, descend, etc. Doublet of scala.
Etymology 2
From Middle English scale, from Old French escale, from Frankish and/or Old High German skala, from Proto-Germanic *skalō. Cognate with Old English sċealu (“shell, husk”), whence the modern doublet shale. Further cognate with Dutch schaal, German Schale, French écale.
Etymology 3
Inherited from Northern Middle English scale (non-Northern scole), from Old Norse skál (“bowl”) from Proto-Germanic *skēlō. Compare Danish skål (“bowl, cup”), Dutch schaal, German Schale, Old High German scāla, Old English scealu (“cup”).