score

Noun

score (plural scores or score)

1. The total number of goals, points, runs, etc. earned by a participant in a game.
   • The player with the highest score is the winner.
2. The number of points accrued by each of the participants in a game, expressed as a ratio or a series of numbers.
   • The score is 8-1 even though it's not even half-time!
3. The performance of an individual or group on an examination or test, expressed by a number, letter, or other symbol; a grade.
   • The test scores for this class were high.
   • The study not only showed IQ variance between children the same parents, but because the authors had the IQ scores of various parents, it demonstrated that parents with higher IQs tended to have more kids, ruling out the dysgenic fertility theory as a driver of falling IQ scores and highlighting...2018 June 13, Rory Smith, “IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds”, in CNN
4. Twenty (20).
   • Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 1
   • I went on trying for fish along the western bank down the river, but only small trout rose at my flies, and a score was the total catch.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Braekstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 152
   1. A distance of twenty yards, in ancient archery and gunnery.
      • At Markes full fortie score they vs'd to Prick and Roue.1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 26, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great...
   2. A weight of twenty pounds.
   3. A period of twenty years.
   4. (UK, slang) Twenty pounds sterling.
      • DEVLIN:You know the apple and core. Head might cost you a score, or more if you want a meat show on all fours.2012 September 9, “Deepest Shame (New Machine Remix)”, performed by Plan B,Chip,Devlin
5. (in plural, often) A great deal; many, several.
   • Some words have scores of meanings.
6. An amount of money won in gambling; winnings.
   • Use a few “introductory plays” to become known to a casino before you go for a big score.2013, Arnold Snyder, Big Book of Blackjack
7. The written form of a musical composition showing all instrumental and vocal parts.
8. The music of a movie or play.
   • Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort...2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55
9. A subject.
   • Well, although we haven't discussed the views of all those who make precise reckonings of being and not [being], we've done enough on that score.2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 245e
10. An account; a reason; a motive; a sake; a behalf.
    • But left the trade, as many more / Have lately done on the same score.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished...
    • You act your kindneſs on Cydaria’s ſcore.1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act V...
11. A notch or incision; especially, one that is made as a tally mark; hence, a mark, or line, made for the purpose of account.
    • Whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
12. An account or reckoning; account of dues; bill; debt.
    • He parted well, and paid his score.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Verb

score (third-person singular simple present scores, present participle scoring, simple past and past participle scored)

1. (transitive) To cut a notch or a groove in a surface.
   • A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…].1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
   • The baker scored the cake so that the servers would know where to slice it.

   Synonyms:

   groove, notch

2. (intransitive) To record the tally of points for a game, a match, or an examination.

   Synonyms:

   keep, tally

3. (ambitransitive) To obtain something desired.
   • "Of course it would be hypocritical for me to pretend that I regret what Abraham did. After all, I've scored by it."1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 50”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC
   • In the past decade gay people have scored a number of significant advances.1982 February 13, Wayne Dynes, “Unnatural”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 4
   1. (ambitransitive) To earn points in a game.
      • It is unusual for a team to score a hundred goals in one game.
      • Pelé scores again!
   2. (ambitransitive) To achieve academic credit on a test, quiz, homework, assignment, or course.
      • No, Butthead, that's my point. You didn't score. You got a zero.1996 March 5, Mike Judge, “Substitute”, in Beavis and Butthead, season 6, episode 18, Mr. Van Driessen (actor)
      • At the end of first grade, the children scored 80 percent correct on this test, a value that remained unchanged through third grade.2004, Diane McGuinness, Early reading instruction: what science really tells us about how to teach reading
   3. (ambitransitive) To win money by gambling.
      • […] he scored big by hitting the jack pot at the Bellagio (he won $7,000). The next day, he won $15,000 on the nickel machines at the Palm Casino!2005, Shannon Nash, For the Love of Money, page 215
   4. (ambitransitive, slang) To acquire or gain.
      • I scored some drugs last night.
      • Did you score tickets for the concert?
   5. (US, ambitransitive, slang, crime) To extract a bribe.
   6. (ambitransitive, slang, vulgar) To obtain a sexual favor.
      • Chris finally scored with Pat last week.
      • Gotta find a chick who'll give you more / Well, there's a spot that I've discovered / Where a guy's guaranteed to score1982, “Prowlin'”, in Domenic Bugatti, Frank Muskeer, Christopher Cerf (lyrics), Grease 2
4. (transitive) To rate; to evaluate the quality of.
   • Critics scored the game 92%.
   • […] this was the case for most students, who scored it highly (medians of 4 with many scores of 5) […]2007, Cross-Cultural Urban Design: Global or Local Practice?, page 197
5. (transitive) To provide (a film, etc.) with a musical score.
   • Godfather II is nothing like ready. It is not yet scored, and thus not mixed. There remain additional shooting, looping, editing.1974, New York Magazine, volume 7, number 45, page 98
   • Robertson scored several of Scorsese’s films, including Raging Bull, Casino, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman.2023 August 10, Adrian Horton, “Robbie Robertson, member of the Band, dies at age 80”, in The Guardian, UK

   Synonyms:

   soundtrack

6. (ambitransitive) To return (a horse and rider) to the starting-point repeatedly, until a fair start is achieved.
   • […] and the scoring for a start by these "inferior" horses would kill a thoroughbred. As an instance, in the 2:27 race at Cleveland, last summer, twelve horses scored seventeen times before they got a fair start.1878, John H. Wallace, Wallace's Monthly, volume 4, page 18

Interjection

1. (US, slang) An acknowledgement of success.