What does "scout" mean?
A person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
Scout
/skaʊt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
- Grammar: scout is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: spotter, abhor, abjure, advance guard.
- Useful contrasts: adult leader, ignore, overlook.
- Usage evidence: The membership of the Boy Scout troop swelled.
How to use "scout"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "scout" 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 "scout" 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 "scout" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "scout" 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 "scout" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang 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 "spotter" 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 "scout", 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 person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
- 2 A swift sailing boat. dated
"So we took a scout, very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers."
- 3 The guillemot.
- 4 A member of any of various scouting organizations.
- 5 a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event wordnet
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 An act of scouting or reconnoitering.
"while the rat is on the scout"
- 7 A member of one of several army units, such as the Selous Scouts or the Arunachal Scouts.
- 8 someone who can find paths through unexplored territory wordnet
- 9 A member of any number of youth organizations belonging to the international scout movement, such as the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of the United States.
"At the crack of dawn on Wednesday four different groups of scouts will climb the highest peaks in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to light flames and officially mark the start of the Paralympic torch relay."
- 10 someone employed to discover and recruit talented persons (especially in the worlds of entertainment or sports) wordnet
- 11 A person who assesses or recruits others; especially, one who identifies promising talent on behalf of a sports team.
"We have met twice this year and, during our first interview, Mata spoke evocatively when remembering how, having joined Real Oviedo aged 10 in 1998, he was given a previously unimaginable opportunity. Mata sat in a car park in 2003, when he was 14, and watched his father talking to a Real Madrid scout."
- 12 a member of the Scouting movement wordnet
- 13 A person employed to monitor rivals' activities in the petroleum industry.
- 14 A housekeeper or domestic cleaner, generally female, employed by one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University to clean rooms; generally equivalent to a modern bedder at Cambridge University. modern
- 15 A domestic servant, generally male, who would attend (usually several) students in a variety of ways, including cleaning; generally equivalent to a gyp at Cambridge University or a skip at Trinity College, Dublin. historical
"He has also been good enough to recommend to me many tradesmen who are ready to supply these articles in any quantities; each of whom has been here already a dozen times, cap in hand, and vowing that it is quite immaterial when I pay—which is very kind of them; but, with the highest respect for friend Perkins (my scout) and his obliging friends, I shall make some enquiries before "letting in" with any of them."
- 16 A fielder in a game for practice. UK
- 17 A fighter aircraft. UK, historical
- 18 A preliminary image that allows the technician to make adjustments before the actual diagnostic images.
"A scout topogram is initially performed during continuous table motion, generating an anatomic overview image similar to a conventional radiograph at the locked projection."
- 19 A term of address for a man or boy. informal
""Listen, old scout," Mr. Osborn said solemnly, "you think New York is heartless, but that's not what it is.""
Verb
- 1 To explore a wide terrain, as if on a search. intransitive, transitive
"An hundred horeſmen of my companie Scowting abroad vpon theſe champion plaines, Haue view’d the army of the Scythians, Which make report it far exceeds the Kings."
- 2 To reject with contempt. transitive
"to scout an idea or an apology"
- 3 To pour forth a liquid forcibly, especially excrement; to cause a liquid to gush. Scotland
- 4 explore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody wordnet
- 5 To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout. transitive
"Take more men, and scout him round."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To reject the ideas or beliefs of (a person). transitive
"Two months ago I should have scouted as mad or drunk the man who had dared tell me the like."
- 7 To scoff. intransitive
"So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory."
Proper Noun
- 1 A nickname, used for both genders.
Example
"The membership of the Boy Scout troop swelled."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "scout"?
Common synonyms include: spotter, abhor, abjure, advance guard, airhead, airplane.
How do you use "scout" in a sentence?
The membership of the Boy Scout troop swelled.
How do you pronounce "scout"?
Pronounced /skaʊt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English scout, scoult, from Old French escoute (“action of listening”), verbal noun from escouter (“to listen, heed”), from Latin auscultō (“to listen”). The verb comes from the noun.
Etymology 2
Of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skúta, skúti (“taunt”), Middle English scoute (“a wretch, rascal, rogue”); thus may be related to English shout.
Etymology 3
From Middle English scoute, skoute (also schoute, shoute, schuyt), from Middle Low German schûte or Middle Dutch schute; or possibly from Old Norse skúta (“a small craft or cutter”).
Etymology 4
Uncertain. The Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) groups the verb scout, scoot (/skut/, regionally /skʌut/) "cause liquid to gush" and a noun scout "sudden gush or flow of water, as from a spout or over rock", and consider it of Scandinavian origin, perhaps related to Old Norse skjóta (“shoot”); however, scout (or scut) was formerly also found as a word for "flow of water over rocks, waterfall; ridge or overhang of rocks" in various northern and central English dialects, and there suggested to be of Norse origin, but in this case related to Old Norse skúti (“cave formed by jutting rocks”); it is possible that noun and the verb are unrelated. It is also unclear whether the noun meaning "guillemot" is related; it might derive from their habit of pouring forth excrement.