scale

UK/skeɪl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/skæɪl/

scale noun: a ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.

Image: Rajesh dangi, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

scale (plural scales)

(obsolete) A ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
An ordered, usually numerical sequence used for measurement; means of assigning a magnitude.
- Please rate your experience on a scale from 1 to 10.
- The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on the open-ended Richter scale.
Size; scope.
- There are some who question the scale of our ambitions.
- We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.2012 January, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2012, page 23
The ratio of depicted distance to actual distance.
- This map uses a scale of 1:10.
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.1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page ix
A series of notes spanning an octave, tritave, or pseudo-octave, used to make melodies.
A mathematical base for a numeral system; radix.
- the decimal scale, the binary scale
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.1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC
- City's players and supporters travelled from one end of the emotional scale to the other in those vital seconds, providing a truly remarkable piece of football theatre and the most dramatic conclusion to a season in Premier League history.2012 May 13, Phil McNulty, “Man City 3-2 QPR”, in BBC Sport
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.

Verb (1)

scale (third-person singular simple present scales, present participle scaling, simple past and past participle scaled)

(transitive) 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.
- We should scale that up by a factor of 10.
(transitive) To climb to the top of.
- Hilary and Norgay were the first known to have scaled Everest.
- At last I came to the great barrier-cliffs; and after three days of mad effort—of maniacal effort—I scaled them. I built crude ladders; I wedged sticks in narrow fissures; I chopped toe-holds and finger-holds with my long knife; but at last I scaled them. Near the summit I came upon a huge cavern.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IX, in Hugo Gernsback, editor...
(intransitive) To tolerate significant increases in throughput or other potentially limiting factors.
- That architecture won't scale to real-world environments.
(computing or systems engineering) To handle heavily increasing loads without breaking down.
- We started using the term “scaling” in place of “growing” around the late 1990s to early 2000s, primarily due to the rise of venture-backed startups in Silicon Valley. The term migrated from tech/infrastructure (“can this system scale?”) to startups (“can this business scale?”)May 12, 2025, Sarah Levinger, Post of "X" (formerly "Twitter")
(marketing and venture management, coordinate term to "grow") To increase revenues exponentially without proportional increases in costs.
- We started using the term “scaling” in place of “growing” around the late 1990s to early 2000s, primarily due to the rise of venture-backed startups in Silicon Valley. [...] VCs needed a way to describe businesses that could grow exponentially without adding proportional headcount or expense. So...May 12, 2025, Sarah Levinger, Post of "X" (formerly "Twitter")
- Being able to move swiftly, try new things is critical in startups, so there shouldn't be friction upstream, but you need to make sure you have good process to purge things that don't scale with the rest.2024, Alexandre Mathieu, Post on "Linked in"
(transitive) To weigh, measure or grade according to a scale or system.
- Scaling his present bearing with his past.c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- The kitchen-dining-buffet car scales 49.2 tons.1962 July, G. Freeman Allen, “The New "Rheingold"”, in Modern Railways, page 25
(transitive) To take measurements from (an engineering drawing), treating them as (or as if) reliable dimensional instructions.
- Every single drawing in the specification has a warning in its title block which reads, "Do not scale this drawing."

Noun (2)

scale (countable and uncountable, plural scales)

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.
- Fish that, with their fins and shining scales, / Glide under the green wave.1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
A small piece of pigmented chitin, many of which coat the wings of a butterfly or moth to give them their color.
A flake of skin of an animal afflicted with dermatitis.
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.
(uncountable) The flaky material sloughed off heated metal.
Scale mail (as opposed to chain mail).
(uncountable) Limescale.
A scale insect.
The thin metallic side plate of the handle of a pocketknife.
(US, uncountable) An infestation of scale insects on a plant; commonly thought of as, or mistaken for, a disease.
- Although of no effect so far as the course of the small outbreak at Nacaugai is concerned it is necessary to add here that the prompt destruction of kavika trees over much of the neighbouring land on Nagasau estate was in all probability an important measure of control and responsible for the...1935 March, T[homas] H. C. Taylor, “The Campaign against Aspidiotus destructor, Sign., in Fiji”, in Bulletin of Entomological Research, volume 26, Imperial Institute of Entomology, →DOI, →ISSN...

Verb (2)

scale (third-person singular simple present scales, present participle scaling, simple past and past participle scaled)

(transitive) To remove the scales of.
- Please scale that fish for dinner.
Synonyms:

descale
(intransitive) To become scaly; to produce or develop scales.
- The dry weather is making my skin scale.
(transitive) To take off in thin layers or scales, as tartar from the teeth; to pare off, as a surface.
- if all the mountains and hills were scaled, and the earth made even1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth
(intransitive) To separate and come off in thin layers or laminae.
- Some sandstone scales by exposure.
- Those that cast their shell are the lobster and crab; the old skins are found, but the old shells never; so it is likely that they scale off.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
(Scotland, UK, dialectal) To scatter; to spread.
(transitive) To clean, as the inside of a cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder.
- cannons […]caused to be scaled and loaded1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]...

Noun (3)

scale (plural scales)

A device to measure mass or weight.
- After the long, lazy winter I was afraid to get on the scale.
Synonyms:

scales
Either of the pans, trays, or dishes of a balance or scales.

scale meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

scale in Hindi

sequence for measurement: मापक्रम māpakram
size or scope: मापक्रम māpakram
ratio of distances: मापक्रम māpakram
keratin pieces covering the skin of certain animals: पपड़ी papṛī

scale in Tamil

தராசு, வரையறுக்கப்பட்ட அளவு, செதில், ஒப்பளவு, மண்டிலம், அளவுகோல்

scale in Marathi

scale, ruler: पट्टी paṭṭī
scale, proportion, magnitude: आकार ākār

scale in Urdu

size or scope: پیمانہ paimāna
keratin pieces covering the skin of certain animals: کھپرا khaprā, کھپلا khaplā

More languagesFewer languages

scale in Bengali: অঙ্গ oṅgo
scale in Telugu: స్కేలు skēlu, కొలత kolata, ప్రమాణము pramāṇamu, స్థాయి sthāyi
scale in Malayalam: സ്കെയിൽ skeyil, തക്കിടി takkiṭi
scale in Kannada: ಪೊರೆ, ಹೊರಿಗೆ, ಹೊರಿಕೆ, ಅಳತೆ ಕೋಲು
scale in Punjabi: ਪਪੜੀ papṛī
scale in Gujarati: ભીંગડું bhī̃gḍũ
scale in Odia: ସ୍କେଲ, ମାପକାଠି, ସ୍କେଲ୍
scale in Nepali: स्केल, स्केल गर्न
scale in Tagalog: talalakihan, sukuran, talasukuran, talasukatan
scale in Arabic: مِقْيَاس miqyās, مِيزَان mīzān, سُلَّمٌ مُوسِيقِيّ sullamun mūsīqiyy, سُلَّم sullam
scale in Malay: skala, sisik
scale in Indonesian: tangga nada, sisik
scale in Persian: مقیاس, اندازه, فلس fals, حرشف haršaf
scale in Thai: เกล็ด glèt
scale in Vietnamese: âm giai, vảy
scale in Myanmar: စကေး ca.ke:, အကြေး a.kre:

Examples of scale in a sentence

Rogue cancels and supersedes are being issued on a large scale against posters.
I consider scaling Mount Blanc the greatest physical feat of my life.
Heartless managed the scale the first jump but fell over the second.

All 40 example sentences with scale

Synonyms of scale

Forms of scale

Noun
plural	scales
Verb
third-person singular present	scales
present participle	scaling
past participle	scaled
past	scaled

Past tense of scale: scaled

Plural of scale: scales

Origin of scale

From Middle English scale, from Latin scāla, usually in plural scālae (“a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder”), for *skand-slā, from scandō (“to climb”); see scan, ascend, descend, etc. Doublet of scala.

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.

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”).

Words formed from scale

Phrases with scale

145 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with scale

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about scale

What does scale mean?: Scale means a ladder; a series of steps; a means of ascending.
What is scale in Hindi?: Scale in Hindi is मापक्रम (māpakram), पपड़ी (papṛī). See Scale meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is scale?: Scale can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce scale?: Scale is pronounced /skeɪl/ (UK).
What is the plural of scale?: The plural of scale is scales.

Words near scale in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-scale.ogg, en-au-scale.ogg.

Cite this entry: “scale.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scale. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.