scout
/ˈskɐʊ̯t//ˈskaʊ̯t/
scout noun: a person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
Noun (1)
scout (plural scouts)
- A person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
- An act of scouting or reconnoitering.
- while the rat is on the scout1782, William Cowper, “The Cricket”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC
- May 6, 1883 […] This camp, the finest on this scout, has not so much running water as some of the others; […] May 7, 1883 […] Colonel Aguerre was going today or tomorrow with four hundred regular troops for a scout in the Sierra Madre […]2001, Peter Cozzens, Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, 1865-1890: The Struggle for Apacheria. volume one, Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 356
- 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.2012 August 21, Alexandra Topping, “Paralympic flames light up countdown to biggest Games in history”, in The Guardian
- 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...2018 January 1, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in The Guardian
- A person employed to monitor rivals' activities in the petroleum industry.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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...1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], chapter I, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], (please specify |part=1 or 2), Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC
- A fielder in a game for practice.
- A fighter aircraft.
- 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.2012, Ella A. Kazerooni, Baskaran Sundaram, Imaging of Lung Cancer, page 937
- It consisted of injecting an iodinated contrast agent while a breast was compressed in one projection after a scout film, taking several sequential films, and subtracting them from the scout film.2016, John L. Cameron, Andrew M. Cameron, Current Surgical Therapy, page 721
- A term of address for a man or boy.
- "Listen, old scout," Mr. Osborn said solemnly, "you think New York is heartless, but that's not what it is."1983, Robley Wilson, Dancing for Men, page 124
Verb (1)
scout (third-person singular simple present scouts, present participle scouting, simple past and past participle scouted)
- To explore a wide terrain, as if on a search.
- 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.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- survey, reconnoiter
- An hundred horeſmen of my companie
- To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout.
- Take more men, and scout him round.c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V...
Verb (2)
scout (third-person singular simple present scouts, present participle scouting, simple past and past participle scouted)
- To reject with contempt.
- to scout an idea or an apology
- Flout 'em and scout 'em; and scout 'em and flout 'em: / Thought is free.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- To reject the ideas or beliefs of (a person).
- Two months ago I should have scouted as mad or drunk the man who had dared tell me the like.1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 9
- To scoff.
- 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...1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 45, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
Noun (2)
scout (plural scouts)
- A swift sailing boat.
- So we took a scout, very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers.1660, Samuel Pepys, diary entry 18th May 1660
Verb (3)
scout (third-person singular simple present scouts, present participle scouting, simple past and past participle scouted)
- To pour forth a liquid forcibly, especially excrement; to cause a liquid to gush.
Noun (3)
scout (plural scouts)
- The guillemot.
Noun (4) capitalized: Scout
Scout (plural Scouts)
- A member of any of various scouting organizations.
- A member of one of several army units, such as the Selous Scouts or the Arunachal Scouts.
Proper noun capitalized: Scout
Scout
- A nickname, used for both genders.
scout meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
scout in Hindi
- person sent out to gain and bring in tidings
- जासूस jāsūs
- member of the scout movement
- स्काउट skāuṭ
- to explore a wide terrain
- सर्वेक्षण sarvekṣaṇ, समीक्षा samīkṣā
scout in Tamil
- சாரணர், தேடலாள், ஒற்றர், உளவாளி
scout in Marathi
- स्काउट, स्काऊट, स्काउट करण्यासाठी
scout in Urdu
- person sent out to gain and bring in tidings
- جاسُوس jāsūs
More languagesFewer languages
- scout in Bengali
- বয়স্কাউট্, ঘৃণাসহকারে প্রত্যাখ্যান করা, সন্ধান আনয়ন করা
- scout in Telugu
- స్కౌట్, స్కౌట్ చెయ్యడానికి
- scout in Malayalam
- രംഗനിരീക്ഷകൻ, ശത്രുനിരീക്ഷണത്തിനു നിയുക്തനായവൻ, കാവലാൾ, രംഗനിരീക്ഷണത്തിനു മുമ്പേ പോകുന്നയാൾ
- scout in Kannada
- ಗೂಢಚಾರ, ಬೇಹುಗಾರ, ಪಾಳತಿಗಾರ, ಅಗ್ರಚಾರ
- scout in Punjabi
- ਸਕਾਊਟ, ਸਕਾਉਟ, ਸ੍ਕਾਊਟ
- scout in Gujarati
- સ્કાઉટ, સ્કાઉટ કરવા માટે
- scout in Odia
- ସ୍କାଉଟ, ସ୍କାଉଟ୍, ସ୍କାଉଟ୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
- scout in Nepali
- स्काउट, स्काउट्, स्काउट गर्न
- scout in Arabic
- كَشَّاف kaššāf
- scout in Malay
- pengakap
- scout in Indonesian
- pramuka
- scout in Thai
- แมวเซา mɛɛo-sao, แมวมอง mɛɛo-mɔɔng, ลูกเสือ lûuk-sʉ̌ʉa
Examples of scout in a sentence
- Mata sat in a car park in 2003, when he was 14, and watched his father talking to a Real Madrid scout.2018 January 1, Donald McRae, “The Guardian footballer of the year 2017: Juan Mata”, in The Guardian:
- Because of this FOV limitation, several institutions use a weight cutoff or a scout radiograph lateral diameter cutoff, though the exact cutoff threshold varies from institution to institution.2018, Savvas Nicolaou, Mohammed F. Mohammed, Multi-Energy CT: The New Frontier in Imaging, page 643:
Synonyms of scout
Forms of scout
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | scouts |
| plural | Scouts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | scouts |
| present participle | scouting |
| past participle | scouted |
| past | scouted |
Origin of scout
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.
Of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skúta, skúti (“taunt”), Middle English scoute (“a wretch, rascal, rogue”); thus may be related to English shout.
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”). Compare shout (“flat-bottomed boat”), schuit.
Words formed from scout
- King's Scout
- Queen's Scout
- Scoutess
- Selous Scout
- boy scout
- go on the scout
- scout balloon
- scout car
- Scout Green
- scouthouse
- scoutmaster
- Scout Official for a Day
- scout team
- talent scout
- scout about
- scout around
- scout out
- scout round
- scout up
Phrases with scout
- Air Scout
- Cub Scout
- Sea Scout
- girl scout
- Life Scout
- Lone Scout
- Scout Area
- Star Scout
- Eagle Scout
- scout teams
- Scout Barrio
- Scout Sunday
10 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with scout
42 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- shout
- sprout
- doubt
- umlaut
- fill out
- grout
- pout
- devout
- drought
- gout
- nowt
- redoubt
- throughout
- without
- ablaut
- dout
- flout
- lout
- mahout
- misdoubt
- mought
- prone out
- strout
- term out
- trout
- zoom out
- 'bout
- anlaut
- aspout
- asprout
- bluff out
- chout
- dought
- knout
- kraut
- layabout
- ne'er cast a clout till May be out
- owt
- peter out
- regrout
- sout
- when in doubt, do nowt
Questions about scout
- What does scout mean?
- Scout means a person sent out to gather and bring back information; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
- What is scout in Hindi?
- Scout in Hindi is जासूस (jāsūs), स्काउट (skāuṭ), सर्वेक्षण (sarvekṣaṇ). See Scout meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use scout in a sentence?
- Mata sat in a car park in 2003, when he was 14, and watched his father talking to a Real Madrid scout.
- What part of speech is scout?
- Scout can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce scout?
- Scout is pronounced /ˈskaʊ̯t/ (UK).
- What is the plural of scout?
- The plural of scout is scouts.
Words near scout in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: scout (page history and authors); Scout (page history and authors); scout (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scout (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); scout (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scout (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); scout (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); scout (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); scout (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); scout (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); scout (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); scout (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-scout.wav.
Cite this entry: “scout.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scout. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.