| 释义 |
▪ I. scale, n.1|skeɪl|
Forms: α. 3– scale; also 4–7, 9 skale, 5 skaylle, 9 scaile, skail. β. 3–7 (9 dial.) scole, 3, 6–7 scoale, 6–7 skole, 7 scoal, scowle, skoal(e.
[a. ON. skál str. fem., bowl, pl. (weighing) scales (Sw. skål, Da. skaal: cf. skoal) = OHG. scâla (MHG. schâle, mod.G. schale):—OTeut. *skǣlā, ablaut-var. of *skalā, whence OE. scealu shell, hust, drinking cup, weighing scale (see shale n.1), OHG. scala shell, husk (MHG., mod.G. schale); the quantity of the vowel is doubtful in OS. skala cup, and in the ODu. antecedent of MDu. schale (Du. schaal), though it is probable that in Du. as in Ger. two original forms, skâla cup, scales, and skăla husk, shell, have become phonetically coincident. For the OE. scealu the inflexion appears to attest the short vowel in all the senses. The WGer. *skā̆la (:—OTeut. *skǣlā, skalā) passed into OF. as eschale, escale cup (med.L. scala ‘patera’), also husk (mod.F. écale). For the Teut. root *skel-: skal-: skǣl- to separate, divide, cf. shale, shell, skill. See also skele.
Between the first quarter of the 13th c. and the 16th c. the α forms (containing the vowel a) represent the northern pronunciation, the β forms being midland and southern. In the 16th c., however, the northern scale seems to have found its way into the London dialect, being used by Palsgrave and later by Spenser and Shakes. In the 17th c. scale is the prevailing literary form, though scole (with other equivalent spellings) occasionally appears down to the middle of the century.]
I.
1. A drinking-bowl or cup. Obs. exc. S. Afr.
αc1205Lay. 5368 ælc mon nom an honde ane scale [c 1275 scele] of rede golde. Ibid. 14965 Heo fulde hir scale of wine. 1390–1Earl Derby's Exp. (Camden) 100/21 Vasa Argentea{ddd} pro vj skales argenteis. c1460Towneley Myst. xii. 249 Ye hold long the skayll, Now lett me go to. c1475Cath. Angl. (Addit. MS.) 320/2 A Scale of Ale. 1511–12Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 662 Pro 4 dd. Ciphorum et 2 dd. Scalez. 1616in N. Riding Rec. (1884) II. 118 Geo. Smales [presented] for..selling ale in scales and pottes not sealed. a1800Jolly Hind's Squire xi. in Child Ballads (1884) I. 429 There's ale into the birken scale, Wine in the horn green. 1946P. Abrahams Mine Boy iii. 26 Joseph nodded, slapped Xuma heartily on the back and offered him a scale of beer... He smiled and took the scale. Xuma put the scale to his lips, then passed it to Daddy. 1953P. Lanham Blanket Boy's Moon v. iii. 274 Drink a scale of fine home-brewed kaffir beer with us. 1969Post (Golden City, S. Afr.) 6 Apr. 14 Gave her R1 and told her to buy a scale of KB from Mathebula. 1970Drum Oct. 8, I found myself firmly grasping a plastic scale.
βa1225Ancr. R. 214 A dischs ine his one hond, & a scoale [v.rr. schale, skale] in his oðer. c1275Lay. 1180 Ane scole he bar an honde al of rede golde milc was in þe scole. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1145 A bassyn, a bolle, oþer a scole.
II. Apparatus for weighing.
2. The pan, or each of the pans, of a balance. Also fig. † to hold scale with: to balance, to equal in weight.
αc1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxii. (Laurentius) 739 Quhene we wald in skale put don his ewil consawit suspicione..& in-to þe tothyre skale his gud dedis ware al hale. c1440Alphabet of Tales 349 In þe to skale it weyed more þan all þat evur þai cuthe put in þe toder skale. 1483Cath. Angl. 320/2 A Scale of a balan̄, lanx. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 132 Your vowes to her, and me, (put in two scales) Will euen weigh, and both as light as tales. 1604― Oth. i. iii. 331 If the braine of our liues had not one Scale of Reason, to poize another of Sensualitie. 1654Ambrose Ultima 193 This one sinne of refusing Christ may perhaps hold scale with the united horrours of all the rest whatsoever. 1687Dryden Hind & P. ii. 624 Till when, your weights will in the balance fail A Church unprincipled kicks up the Scale. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 55. 355 [They] made their Court by throwing themselves into the Scale of unlimited Loyalty. 1770Burke Pres. Discont. Wks. II. 306 In a contest..where nothing can be put into their scale which is not taken from ours. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 192/1 They [sc. the soils] are..placed in opposite scales of a balance, and poised. 1859Tennyson Geraint 525 While slowly falling as a scale that falls, When weight is added only grain by grain. 1860L. V. Harcourt Diaries G. Rose I. 179 He..would, Brennus-like, have thrown his sword into the scale of liberty. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. v. 474 This time 'twas my scale quietly kissed the ground, Mere rank against mere wealth.
βc1440Jacob's Well 4 Whanne þis smal precyous ston was leyd in a scole, it was so heuy, þat no-thing leyd in þe oþer scole, was it neuere so heuy, myȝte weyin it vp. 1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 183 The skoles in a payre of balance. 1601Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. xxvi. O 6 Iustice, which being the very soule and life of gouernment is oft time compelled to help the lightest scoale with her finger. 1611Cotgr., Bassin d'vne balance, the scowle of a balance. 1648Wilkins Math. Magic i. iii. 16 Both the scoles being empty shall hang in æquilibrio.
3. a. pl. († In 16th c. rarely construed as sing.). A weighing instrument; esp. one (often called a pair of scales) consisting of a beam which is pivoted at its middle and at either end of which a dish, pan, board, or slab is suspended. Also fig.
α1480Wardrobe Acc. Edw. IV (Nicolas 1830) 131 Standisshes with weightes and scales iij. 1530Palsgr. 182 Vnes belances, a payre of balans or scales to wey with. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. xciv. 56 Wee must not wey our own woorkes in our owne scales. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. ii. 101 In that Christall scales, let there be waid, Your Ladies loue against some other Maid. 1693Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 4 If we consider the Dignity of an Intelligent Being, and put that in the scales against brute inanimate Matter. 1697Floyer Eng. Baths Pref. c 5 By Sanctorius's Scales he found the Body to weigh less after bathing in cold Water. 1719D'Urfey Pills III. 83 Their Scales were false, their Weights were light. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. ii, The goddess who had inclined the scales of battle in favour of Theodosius. 1872Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 117 Public scales, at which citizens could weigh their corn food. 1884Lowell Democracy (1887) 42 In the scales of the destinies brawn will never weigh so much as brain.
β1535Coverdale Ezek. v. 1 Then take the scoales and the waight, and deuyde the hayre a sunder. 1571Golding Calvin on Ps. xxvii. 1 As it were weying in a pair of skoles, whatsoever power is in the world and in hel. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 38 A sin..that seemes small in the common beame of the world, may be very great in the scoales of his Sanctuary. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Scoles, pl. scales.
b. as an attribute of Justice.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 204 And poyse the Cause in Iustice equall Scales, Whose Beame stands sure. 1604[see baker 1]. 1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. x, In one hand a paire of euen scoals she [Justice] weares. 1861A. Leighton Storied Trad. Sc. Life Ser. ii. 71 We have left the heart⁓broken Ailsie suspended in the upper scale of justice.
c. to hold the scales even or equally: to judge impartially. (Cf. 4 b.)
1648Earl of Westmoreland Otia Sacra 118 [The King of Heaven] in his hands the Skoals doth hold so even, That [etc.]. 1692Dryden Eleonora 108 Equally the scales to hold Betwixt the two extremes of hot and cold.
4. a. sing. = pl. (sense 3). Often fig., esp. in to turn the scale: said of an excess of weight on one side or the other.
c1440Promp. Parv. 449/2 Scole, to wey wythe,..libra, balanx. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 330 If the scale doe turne But in the estimation of a hayre. a1625Fletcher Nice Valour i. i. (1647) 149 As even as the thirteenth of September, When day and night lye in a scale together. 1627Speed England xxiv. §3 The Victor in Rome..with so equal an hand bare the Scoale of Resistance, that their owne Writers evermore terme it a dangerous Warre. 1674Hickman Quinquart. Hist. (ed. 2) 137 He is..afraid to come either to the pole or to the scale; either to weigh, or to number authorities with us. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton vii. (1840) 119 We had..three pound and a half..according to..weight and scale. 1777P. Thicknesse Year's Journey I. iii. 18 As he is a good seaman, and has a clean, convenient, nay an elegant vessel, I would rather turn the scale in his favour. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles iii. x, And if my words in weight shall fail, This ponderous sword shall turn the scale. 1861F. Nightingale Nursing (ed. 2) 41 When the scale was trembling between life and death. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. I. v. 62 The odd man whose casting vote would turn the scale as between the seven republican members of the Commission and the seven Democrats. 1902Daily Chron. 7 Oct. 5/3 A cargo of Welsh coal..was put on the scale to-day at fifteen dollars per ton.
b. equal scale, even scale (poet.): a just balance; also, a condition of equilibrium or indecision.
1602Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 13 In equall Scale weighing Delight and Dole. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 245 Long time in eeven scale The Battel hung. 1671― P.R. ii. 173 Belial, in much uneven scale thou weigh'st All others by thy self. 1732J. Hammond Love Elegies xi. 6 'Tis Gold o'erturns the even Scale of Life. 1781Cowper Table T. 251 Kind Providence..weighs the nations in an even scale.
c. spec. in Racing. Clerk of the Scales: the official who weighs the jockeys, etc. to ride or go to scale: (of a jockey) to ride to the weighing-room before or after the race.
a1837[Apperley] Turf (1852) 37 Wright is..a steady..rider, and comes light to the scale. 1856‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports 364 In Catch Weights any person can ride without going to scale. 1857G. A. Lawrence Guy Liv. iv, He would have dismounted before riding to scale, and so lost the stakes. 1877Sayles Law of Racing 52 A horse shall not be qualified to run..unless his name has been notified as a starter to the clerk of the scales. 1894Sir J. D. Astley Fifty Yrs. Life II. 201, I..could go to scale about 14 sts. 7 lb.
5. Astr. (pl. and † sing.) (With capital initial.) The sign of Libra. Chiefly poet.
1631Heywood London's Jus Hon. B j b, Sayle By the signe Libra, that Celestiall scale. 1667Milton P.L. x. 676 By Leo and the Virgin and the Scales. 1687Dryden Hind & P. iii. 505 The Sun, already from the Scales declined. 1847Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. iii. The Truants iii, They filled the Scales with sulphur full, They halloed the Dog-Star on at the Bull. 1935[see Algol1].
6. attrib. and Comb., as scale balance, scale baroscope, scale instrument, scale maker, scale man; scale-beam, (a) = beam n.1 6; (b) a weighing instrument of the steelyard kind; scale-box, a box to contain a pair of scales; scale house U.S., a place in which large scales, as for weighing animals, are kept; scale-pan, either of the dishes or pans of a balance.
1809J. Hutchinson (title) The Spirometer, the Stethoscope, and *Scale-Balance.
a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 97 Bringing the *Scale-Baroscope to an exact equilibrium.
1723Lond. Gaz. No. 6172/10 William White.., *Scalebeam-maker. 1789C. Clarke (title) A new Complete System of Weights and Measures,..with considerable Improvements on the Scale-Beam. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 782/1 The scale beam was still further relieved by the fifth lever.
1708S. Sewall Diary 23 June (1879) II. 226 They..fin'd Mr. Tho. Banister..10s. Breach of the peace for throwing the pots and *Scale-box at the maid. 1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 81 Scale Box Maker.
1754South Carolina Gaz. 5 Feb. 3/1 A *Scale-House Beam, Scales and Weights, compleat. 1870Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. VII. 442 In this division of the stock yards there are three scale houses. 1885Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 80 To the southeast..is our large cattle corral..with scales and scale-house.
a1691Boyle Hist. Air (1692) 98 Taking out my *scale-instrument, it appears to weigh precisely a drachm.
1655in Suffolk County (Mass.) Deeds (1885) III. 209, I John Saers of Casco bay *scale maker..Haue bargained & Sold..one Island. 1758Rep. Comm. Weights & Meas. 57 They make use of single Weights made by their present Scale-maker, Mr. Freeman, and his Father, who was likewise Scale-maker to the Mint. 1894Daily News 26 Feb. 7/1 Mr. Thomas Avery, formerly head of the well⁓known firm of scale-makers.
1783in L. Chalkley Chron. Scotch-Irish Settlement Virginia (1912) I. 232 It is certified that the *scale man is Peter Hane. 1930Amer. Speech VI. 13 [Sugar beets] first go to the washer man, then to the hopper which rests upon the weighing apparatus, operated by the scale man.
1830Kater & Lardner Mech. xxi. 289 Place a weight in each *scale-pan.
▪ II. scale, n.2|skeɪl|
Forms: 4– scale; also 4–7 skale (4 scaale, 5 scalle, skaylle, 6 skaile, 7 scail, 8 skeal, 9 scal, skail, skeel).
[aphetic a. OF. escale (12th c.), mod.F. écale husk, pod, chip of stone:—OTeut. *skalā (see scale n.1, shale n.). OF. had also escaille (13th c.), mod.F. écaille scale of fish, shell of oyster, etc. = It. scaglia:—Romanic (also med.L.) scalia, a. OTeut. *skaljā (see shell n.) from the same root; this is perh. the source of some of the ME. spellings.]
1. a. One of the small thin membranous or horny outgrowths or modifications of the skin in many fishes and reptiles, and some mammals, usually overlapping, and forming a complete covering for the body. Also applied to the minute structures forming the covering of the wings of butterflies, etc.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 7161 Þe smallest scale þat on him [sc. a dragon] is No wepen no may atame. c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 189 Smale fischis lite With fynnys rede & skalis syluyr bryȝte. 14..Sir Beues (M.) 2478 Upon the dragon he smote so fast, Where euer he hit, the skales brast. 1549Compl. Scotl. vi. 37, I beheld the pretty fische..vitht..there skalis lyik the brycht siluyr. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. 313 Those which they call Armadillos are [defended] by the multitude of their scales. 1611Cotgr., Tablette,..the scales of a Hawks legs. 1743H. Baker Microsc. (ed. 2) 172 The Cuticula, Scarf-Skin, or outward Covering, of the Body, is remarkable for its Scales and for its Pores. 1784Cowper Task ii. 324 Leviathan..Turns to the stroke his adamantine scales. 1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 389 A vertical flat scale, observable on the footstalk of the genus Formica, &c. Ibid. 646 The gorgeous wings of these universal favourites [the Lepidoptera]..owe all their beauty..to an infinite number of little plumes or scales. 1834McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 186 Batrachians have neither scales nor shell; a naked skin invests their body. 1884Day Commercial Sea Fishes 9 Scales may take on many characters, as denticles in the sharks, osseous plates in sturgeons.
b. collect. sing.
14..Sir Beues (M.) 2537 Under the skale al on hyght The dragons hede he smote of ryght. 1665Hooke Microgr. 184 The leggs..were all of them cover'd with a strong hairy scale or shel. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. 304 The anatomies of unknown wingèd things, And fishes which were isles of living scale. 1843Marryat M. Violet xliv, Its body is covered with scale so hard as to be impenetrable. 1880F. Francis Angling ix. (ed. 5) 306 They all began to change their scales and assume the silvery salmon scale.
†c. Used for: Kind or genus of fish. Obs.
1585Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 72 The Seas (which dyuers skaile Of fish contenis).
†d. transf. ? Surface, outside. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1005 Þe emerade..so grene of scale.
2. One of the small laminæ of epidermis which become detached from the tissue beneath in certain diseases of the skin; † hence, applied with or without qualification to various skin diseases.
(Cf. scall, with which it was probably confused in ME.)
14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 585/25 Furfura, the scales of the hede or berde. 14..Nom. ibid. 675/33 Hec glabra, a scale. c1450in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ix. 228 His syght shall neuer fale, And heles of torne-seke, and of scale. 1597Gerarde Herbal i. xxiv. 34 The ashes of them mixed with vineger helpeth the scales and scurfe of the head. 1609Markham Famous Whore (1868) 30 Of french disease, of Leprous cureless skale. 1685J. Cooke Marrow Chirurg. vi. ix. (ed. 4) 214 The Cuticula [in Scarlet-fever] falling off in Scales or great Fleaks. 1818–20E. Thompson Cullen's Nosologia (ed. 3) 319 Lepidosis.—Scales. 1829Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) III. 27 The spots fall off in branny scales. 1876Duhring Dis. Skin 48 Scales are dry, laminated masses of epidermis which have separated from the tissues beneath.
3. a. A part (e.g. a husk) that may be peeled off or detached in flakes; a comparatively thin plate, lamina, or flake of any kind.
In Surgery, scale is used for ‘an exfoliated lamina of bone’; in Anatomy for ‘a thin scale-like bone’.
c1450ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 208 Þe scales of notes ant ryndes. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 131 An other frute browght from those landes beinge full of scales and with keys much lyke a pine apple. 1594Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. viii. 141 The skales of an Onion. 1611Coryat Crudities 363 [Hemp stripped] by certaine wooden instruments..that do very easily seuer the stranne from the scale. 1632Sherwood s.v., Little scales of broken bones. 1739Sharp Surg. Introd. 45 Every scale of a carious Bone is flung off by new Flesh generated between it and the sound Bone. 1759Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pirus, The rigid Scale of the Cone. 1852Amer. Jrnl. Sci. Ser. ii. XIV. 277 Iridosmine from the same locality occurs in lead-colored scales. 1875Encycl. Brit. III. 707/2 (Birds) The main part of the frontal bone, covering the hemisphere, is a convex radiating scale. 1901Scotsman 18 Sept. 7/8 The gold..was found in nuggets and scales.
†b. A slate. (Cf. skaillie.) Obs. rare—0.
c1481Caxton Dialogues 40 Descailles de tieulles, With skaylles with tyles.
c. The tartar that collects on the teeth.
1594[see scaly a. 1]. 1874Salter Dental Pathol. & Surg. xxiv. 321 It [sc. salivary calculus] frequently affects a single tooth..in the form of a fast-growing scale.
d. Bot. A flattened, membranous, more or less circular plate of cellular tissue, usually a rudimentary or degenerate leaf, as the covering of leaf-buds of deciduous trees, the bracts of catkins, etc.
1776J. Lee Introd. Bot. Explan. Terms 387 Stipula, a Scale at the Base of the Footstalk which it supports. 1787tr. Linnæus' Fam. Plants I. 203 Nectaries five: each with an hearted concave scale. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 395 Lime⁓trees of America; petals provided with a scale, at their basis. 1830Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 292 Flowers [of the Grass tribe] consisting of imbricated bracteæ, of which..the innermost at the base of the ovarium [are called] scales. 1856Delamer Fl. Gard. 130 The undeveloped flower-buds are protected by membranous scales. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 93 The glandular scales of the Hop.
e. A mollusc of the genus Terebratula († Anomia).
1784G. Walker Boys' Coll. Shells 22 Anomia. The Scale. Anomia Squammula. The scale anomia.
f. The protective covering of insects of the family Coccidæ, which remains when they die and protects the eggs and afterwards the young beneath it; hence, = scale-insect; also, the diseased condition of plants caused thereby.
1822Trans. Hort. Soc. (1826) VI. 117 Directions for destroying the Bug and Scale on Pine-apple plants. 1850Hooker's Jrnl. Bot. II. 353 The ‘Brown Scale’ or Coccus, so injurious to the Coffee-plants in Ceylon. Ibid. 356 The number of eggs contained in one of these scales is prodigious. 1882Garden 18 Feb. 117/1 Pines are subject to the attacks of mealy bug and brown and white scale. 1906Marlatt (title) San Jose or Chinese Scale.
4. Taken (after Acts ix. 18) as a type of that which causes blindness (physical or moral).
a1300Cursor M. 19691 Skales fell fra his [sc. Saul's] eien a-wai, And had his sight forth fra þat dai. 1382Wyclif Acts ix. 18 And anon ther felden from his yȝen as scalis [Vulg. tanquam squamæ; Gr. ὡσεὶ λεπίδες], and he receyuede siȝt. [So in later versions.] 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋ 17 Hee remoueth the scales from our eyes, the vaile from our hearts. 1629Sir W. Mure True Crucifixe 971 The skailes of darknesse which our eyes be-night. 1701Stanhope Aug. Medit. iii. xv. 236 Command the Scales of my old Errors to fall off. 1732W. Ellis Pract. Farmer ii. 20, I hope in time the Scales will be taken off the Eyes of the Landlord's Mind. 1896N. Munro Lost Pibroch, etc. 83 One may look at a person for years and not see the reality till a scale falls from the eyes.
5. a. orig. pl. but now usually collect. sing. The film of oxide which forms on iron or other metal when heated and hammered or rolled.
1526Grete Herball clxx. (1529) K v b, The scales of yren..is that yt fleeth of the yren whan it is forged. 1611Cotgr., Escaille d'acier, de bronze, d'erain, de fer, &c.; the Offalls of Steele, &c.; the skales that fly from them when they are hammered. 1796Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 417 The Iron scales of a Smith's forge. 1800tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 100 Copper, in the state of scales, is not completely oxidated. 1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 284 The act of forging produces a strong scale or coating which is spread over the whole of the blade [of the razor]. 1864Percy Metall., Iron & Steel 21 It is this oxide which is known as iron scale, or hammer slag. 1880Jefferies Hodge & M. II. 72 As blow follows blow the red-hot ‘scale’ driven from the surface of the iron on the anvil by the heavy sledge, flies rattling against the window in a spray of fire.
b. Salt-making. An incrustation of dirt or lime on the pan bottoms.
c. The hard deposit or ‘fur’ which gathers in boilers and other vessels in which water is habitually heated. (Rarely pl.)
1848Knapp's Chem. Technol. I. 269 Some [brown scum] attaches itself to the bottom of the [salt] pans (the scale). 1875Knight Dict. Mech. [Of steam-boilers]. 1881Metal World No. 18. 280 It is absolutely essential to the successful use of any boiler, except in pure water, that it be accessible for the removal of scale. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Receipts Ser. ii. 48/1 Boiler ‘scales’ nearly everywhere are principally composed of sulphate of lime.
6. Thin board. [Cf. MDu. schale.] Obs. or dial.
1683[see scabbard n.3]. 1707Mortimer Husb. 339 Of the thin Lamina or Scale of the Wood..they make Scabbards. 1847Halliwell, Scales, the outermost cuts of a piece of timber with the bark on, not thick enough to be called planks. Devon.
7. a. Any of the thin pieces of metal composing scale-armour (see 12). Also collect. sing. (In poetry used vaguely.) b. See quot. 1853.
1809T. Hope Costume Anc. Plate 18 Dacian warrior..with a coat of mail, or scales. 1820Shelley Ode to Naples 68 Clothed in armour of impenetrable scale! 1847Tennyson Princess v. 39 Sheathing splendours and the golden scale Of harness. 1853Stocqueler Mil. Encycl., Scales, a sort of armour consisting of brass plates, laid like scales one over the other, to defend the glandular parts, and the side-face of a dragoon. These scales are attached to the helmet, and can be buttoned up in front. 1875J. Anderson in Encycl. Brit. II. 554/2 Cuirasses of bronze scales.
c. U.S. slang. A coin; money.
1872Schele de Vere Americanisms 296 Among the less generally known terms [for money] are..wherewith, shadscales, or scales ‘for short’. 1874B. F. Taylor World on Wheels 28 Promise him a ‘scale’—scale, skilling, shilling. 1889J. S. Farmer Americanisms 472/2 Scales, a common term for money; an abbreviation of Shadscales. 1929Amer. Speech V. 152 The waitress received much scale at the hotel.
8. Cutlery.
a. Each of the two plates of bone, horn, ivory, or wood which form the outside of the handle of a knife or razor.
1834–6Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 650/1 The handle [sc. of a knife], consisting of two side pieces called scales, is rivetted through the tang on each side. 1877Encycl. Brit. VI. 734/1. 1904 Army & Navy Stores Circ. Aug. 71 Toilet Knife. (Best Sheffield make and finish.) Pearl or tortoiseshell scales.
b. Each of the metal sides of the handle of a pocket knife on which such plates are riveted.
1834–6Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 650/1. 1864 in Webster; and in later Dicts.
9. A plate of metal worn instead of an epaulette by soldiers, sailors, and firemen. [F. écaille.]
1846in E.E. Napier Exc. Southern Afr. (1849) I. 287 An old blue frock coat with large scales. 1852–63Burn Naval & Mil. Dict. ii. 227/1 Shoulder scale or strap. 1894R. Mansfield Chips 54 The officers of the line wore blue frock coats with small brass epaulets, called ‘scales’. 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet iv. vii. 512 In 1846, scales, or epaulettes without bullion, were authorized for captains and commanders... The next year the scales..were abolished.
10. (See quots. 1860, 1880.)
1860Eng. & For. Mining Gloss., Cornwall Terms, Scal, A shale or portion of earth, rock, &c., which separates and falls from the main body. 1880W. Cornwall Gloss., Scal, Scale, loose ground about a mine. 1884Falmouth & Penryn Weekly Times 19 July 5/2 What is commonly known among miners as a ‘jomb’ or ‘scale’ of ground.
11. (See quot. 1885.)
1885Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 242 The several kinds of crude paraffin extracted are classed as ‘hard scale’ or ‘soft scale’, according to their fusing points and consequent degrees of hardness [etc.]. 1889Pall Mall G. 23 Jan. 7/3 The prices fixed on by the Association for burning oil and scale.
12. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) scale-backed, scale-bright, scale-like, scale-marked adjs.; scale-fashion adv.; (sense 2) scale-crust; (sense 2 d) scale-leaf; (sense 5) scale-cleaner, scale-preventive; scale-armour, armour consisting of small overlapping plates of metal, leather, or horn; scale-back, one of the family Aphroditidæ of scale-bearing annelids; scale-bark, bark which is shed in scale-like pieces, as that of the plane-tree; scale-beetle, a tiger-beetle (family Cicindelidæ); scale-blight, the disease caused by the scale-insect; scale-blue, the groundwork of royal blue with a scale-pattern characteristic of some Worcester china; scale-borer, ‘an implement for removing the scale from boiler-tubes’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); scale-bug U.S. = scale-insect; scale carp, the common typical carp, Cyprinus carpio; scale-fern = ceterach (q.v.), so called from the scales clothing the back of the fronds; scale-fish, (a) a fish armed with scales; (b) see quot. 1857; (c) the scabbard-fish (Cent. Dict.); scale-foot, the scabbard-fish; scale-hair, a short flattened hair resembling a scale (cf. hair-scale, hair n. 9 a); scale-insect (see sense 3 f), any of the insects of the genus Coccus or family Coccidæ, which infest and injure certain plants, having the appearance of scales; scale-moss, a plant of the N.O. Jungermanniaceæ; † scale-oyster, a scallop; scale-pad, the part of the tail covered with scales in the Anomaluridæ (or scale-tailed squirrels); scale-pattern, a pattern having a representation of scales; an imbricated pattern; scale-quail, an American quail of the genus Callipepla, having scale-like plumage; scale-reading, the interpretation of the pattern of scales on a fish as an indicator of its age, history, etc.; an examination of scales for this purpose; so scale-reader; scale-roof = scaled roof (see scaled ppl. a.1 2 c); scale-shell, a name for various molluscs; scale-shouldered a., ? wearing a ‘scale’ (sense 9) on the shoulder; scale-skin, a term including several scaly diseases; scale-stone Min., (a) transl. of G. schalstein = tabular spar or wollastonite; (b) anglicization of lepidolite; scale-tail, a squirrel of the family Anomaluridæ, having scales on the under side of the tail; so scale-tailed a.; scale-tang (see quot.); scale-wing, a lepidopter; scale-winged a., lepidopterous; scale-work, work, ornament, decoration, etc., of an imbricated pattern; scale-worm = scale-back; scale-wort, the plant Lathræa squamaria.
1842W. C. Taylor Anc. Hist. xvii. §6 (ed. 3) 526 Both horses and men [of the Sarmatians] were covered with a curious kind of *scale armour formed of the sliced hoofs of animals.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 330 *Scale-backs.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 539 *Scale-Backed Sciæna. 1859K. Cornwallis New World I. 20 Scale-backed armadilloes.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 558 [These] throw off the superficial periderm..in the form of *scale-bark.
1855Ogilvie, Suppl., *Scale-beetles.
1898Daily News 5 July 6/4 Mr. W. M. Maskell..was considered the chief authority of the day on *scale-blight.
1906Westm. Gaz. 5 May 9/3 A pair of handsome *scale-blue Worcester vases.
1555T. Phaer æneid ii. 21 Their..*skalebright necks.
1883Century Mag. Oct. 811/2 The orange's worst enemy is a curious insect, the *scale-bug.
1884Goode, etc. Nat. Hist. Aquatic Anim. 619 The ‘*Scale Carp’; with regular, concentrically arranged scales, being in fact the original species improved.
1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 93 Wrought Iron Manufacture:..*Scale Cleaner.
1898J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. IX. 308 A slight formation of exfoliative *scale⁓crust.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Escaille, a plated Corselet made *scale-fashion.
1548Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 17 Asplenum... It maye be called in englishe Citterach, or *Scaleferne, or Finger-ferne. 1862D. T. Ansted Channel Isl. ii. viii. (ed. 2) 182 The scale-fern is met with, though rarely.
1601Holland Pliny I. Table, *Scale fishes have no ears. 1651T. Barker Art of Angling (1653) 8 This feed will gather the scale Fish together, as Carp, Tench, Roach, Dace and Bream. 1814Amer. Newsp. in Byron Corsair iii. xxiv note, The superior scale and shell fish with which its waters abound. 1856J. Reynolds Peter Gott xix. 254 Four hundred quintals of fish, heavily salted, such as are in demand for the use of the negroes on the plantations. These fish are called scale fish; they consist of hake and haddock. 1857Perley Hand-Bk. New Brunswick 24 The pollack, the hake, and the haddock, when dry-cured, are designated by dealers, ‘scale-fish’. Ibid. 28 The torsk, or cusk, is..dry-cured as a ‘scale-fish’. 1936Discovery Jan. 16/1 The food of the natives consisted of various animals..but never scale fish, which seem to have been the object of a curious taboo. 1967Nat. Fisherman Nov. 11-c The term ‘scalefish’ is used in the Bahamas for fish proper as opposed to shellfish and crustaceans.
1828Fleming Brit. Anim. 205 Lepidopus. *Scale-foot... Two pointed scales in place of ventrals.
1898Packard Text-bk. Entom. 198 Kellogg has detected these *scale-hairs, as he calls them, in Panorpa.
1840Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 572 The young *Scale-insects have the body oval, very flat.
1882Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 433 The buds produced on the leaf-stalks develope into long underground stolons furnished with *scale⁓leaves.
1611Cotgr., Les Escaillons du palais,..the skales, or *skale-like diuisions in the roofe..of the mouth of a horse. 1883Science I. 150/2 The supposed scale-like nature of penguin-feathers.
1892Pater Emerald Uthwart Wks. 1901 VIII. 228 Fritillaries..Snakes' heads, the rude call them, for their shape, *scale-marked too.
1846Lindley Veget. Kingd. 59 These *Scalemosses differ from the Liverworts in the regularly valvate condition of the spore-cases.
1419Liber Albus (Rolls) 275 *Scaleoisters, moules, welkes, et hanocynes.
1898Proc. Zool. Soc. 17 May 451 Before the spot above the end of the lower *scale-pad is reached the tail is covered with long black hair.
1898Engineering Mag. XVI. 145/1 Mineral Oils as *Scale-Preventives.
1930G. H. Nall Life Sea Trout iii. 28 It is the business of the *scale reader to decipher how it [sc. the scale] reflects the growth, and to explain how this provides a clue to the life history of the individual fish. 1968B. Vesey-Fitzgerald World of Fishes ii. 30 An expert scale-reader can tell the age of a fish accurately.
1912Salmon & Trout Mag. No. 4. p. i (Advt.), The latest and most authoritative publication on the new science of *scale reading. 1938B. Curtis Life Story Fish iii. 29 Using scale-readings, he can construct the life-history of a species with far fewer specimens than he could in any other way. 1971D. Mills Salmon & Trout xii. 281 The data from such scale readings can then be incorporated into the construction of growth curves.
1862H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. xliii. 83 The *scale-roof was struck by lightning.
1713Petiver Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ Tab. 16/30 Auris marina..*Scale-shell. Ibid. 16/31 Operculum callorum..Scale-shell. 1891Century Dict., Scale-shell, a bivalve mollusk of the family Leptonidæ.
1893R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour iv, Gigantic *scale-shouldered footmen.
1829Good's Study Med. (ed. 3) V. 585 Lepidosis. *Scale-skin.
1819Bakewell Introd. Min. ii. 346 Lepidolite, or *Scale-stone..is composed of scales or minute laminæ. 1841Maunder Sci. & Lit. Treas., Scale⁓stone, or Schaalstein.
1888Riverside Nat. Hist. V. 132 The technical characters..of *scale-tails are unmistakably sciurine.
Ibid. 131 The..*Scale-tailed Squirrels.
1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal. II. 14 When the handles [of table knives] consist of sides, nailed upon a flat piece of iron, continued from the blade,..they are called *scale tangs.
1864Athenæum 13 Feb. 228/3 Sixty very common species of *scale-wings.
1857Lardner Anim. Phys. §243 Lepidoptera. *Scale-winged.
1737Whiston Josephus xii. ii. 361 Of the cisterns of gold, there were two; whose sculpture was of *scale-work. 1875Fortnum Maiolica viii. 69 The ground..sometimes covered with scale work.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 330 *Scale-worms.
1849Balfour Man. Bot. §963 Lathræa squamaria, *Scale-wort, is parasitical upon the roots of Hazels, Cherry-laurels, and other trees.
▪ III. scale, n.3|skeɪl|
Forms: 5–8 skale, 6 Sc. scaill(e, 5– scale.
[ad. It. scala or its source L. scāla:—prehist. *scanslā (scand- + -tlā), f. scandĕre to climb (see scand v.). Cf. Pr., Sp., Pg. escala, OF. eschiele (mod.F. échelle).]
I.
†1.
a. A ladder; in early use, a scaling-ladder.
1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 7962 Þay haue..Her wallis maskued, and ageyn oure skalis..made gret ordinaunce. 1426― De Guil. Pilgr. 566, I sawh..ffolkys, wych dyde entende To helpe her ffrendys to ascende..By scalys throgh the strong closure. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 452 Preparatioun of scailles and ledderis was maid for the assault. 1591Harington Orl. Fur. v. ix, I taught him by a scale of cord to clime. 1611Cotgr., Eschellette, a little ladder, or skale. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts (1683) 33 A Scale or Ladder was made that reached unto the Roof.
†b. In figurative and allusive uses, freq. with reference to Jacob's ladder (Gen. xxviii. 12). Obs.
14..Lydg. in Tundale's Vis. 123 Sython thou [the B.V.M.] of Jacob art the ryght scale..the laddur of holynes. 1494Hylton's Scala Perf. (W. de W.) Envoy, This boke... Scale of perfeccion calde in euery place. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 24 b, All true and frutefull Natvrall Philosophie, hath A double Scale or Ladder, Ascendent and Descendent. a1626Sir J. Davies Poems (1876) II. 211 The Jacob's scales, whereby shee [Faith] clymes the skyes. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 354 In th' ascending Scale Of Heav'n the Starrs that usher Evening rose. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 3 The lofty Tube, the scale With which they Heav'n itself assail, Was mounted full against the Moon. 1781Cowper Retirem. 111 A scale by which the soul ascends From mighty means to more important ends. 1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 14 They are the scale by which we can best ascend to the true knowledge and love of him.
†2. A rung or step of a ladder. Also fig. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 442/1 Scale..of a leddur, scalare. 1530Palsgr. 265/2 Scale of a ladder, eschellon. 1608Willet Hexapla Exod. 453 The steps or scales of wooden ladders. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 69 The Cardinalship being only a scale and step towards Episcopacy. a1682Sir T. Browne Tracts i. (1683) 5 Ladders signifie Travels, and the Scales thereof Preferment.
†3. A flight (of stairs); a staircase. Obs.
1592R. D. Hypnerotomachia 9, I came by a long gallorie to a salying scale or downe going staire. 1658–9in N. Riding Rec. (1888) VI. 16 No mariner..do moor, fesse or tye any ship etc. to the said bridge, the jewells, scales, or any part thereof. 1705Addison Italy, Caprea 259 Several ancient Scales of Stairs, by which they us'd to ascend 'em [sc. mountains].
II.
4. Mus. a. A definite series of sounds ascending or descending by fixed intervals, esp. such a series beginning on a certain note (cf. key n.1 7 b) selected for the purposes of musical composition. b. Any of the graduated series of sounds into which the octave is divided, the sounds varying according to the system of graduation adopted.
For the various scales of ancient and modern music, see chromatic a. 5, diatonic a. 1, 2, enharmonic a. 1, 2, harmonic a. 4, major a. 4 c, minor a. 6 c, melodic a., Pythagorean a.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 2 Here is the Scale of Musicke which wee terme the Gam. Ibid. 7 Phi. Why then was your Scale deuised of xx notes and no more? Ma. Because that compasse was the reach of most voyces: so that vnder Gam vt the voice seemed as a kinde of humming, and aboue E la a kinde of constrained shrieking. 1697Evelyn Numismata viii. 285 Aretine..improved the Scale and set the first Gamut. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, The Scale of Musick among the Greeks, consisted of fifteen Notes, or the Distances of two Octaves. 1777Sir W. Jones Ess. Imit. Arts Poems, etc. 198 In the regular scale each interval assumes a proper character. 1818Busby Gram. Mus. 362 The fifth of any Minor key is related to that key, because its scale, in order to be perfect, requires only one change in the octave of that key,—the sharpening of its sixth. 1866Engel Nat. Mus. ii. 24 The musical scale varies in different nations, having in some instances more intervals than ours, in others fewer. 1876Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v., By starting from any note in the semitonal scale, we can have twelve minor modes. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 80/2 To this scale of four notes, G, A, ♭ B, C, were subsequently added a note below and a note above, which made the hexachord.
c. In particularized use (chiefly pl.): Any scale taken as a subject of instruction or practice.
1865Dublin Univ. Mag. I. 267 She taught the very young collegians their ‘scales’. 1870M. Bridgman R. Lynne II. xiii. 285 She could just scamper through the scales. 1884F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. i. 11 We will try a scale. 1888Poor Nellie ii. i. 89, I do wish she would forget to play her scales some morning.
d. The compass or range of a musical instrument.
1818Busby Gram. Mus. 484 The Violino, bulky in its mechanical construction, and deep in its scale. Ibid. 485 The Clarinett..is an instrument of the reed species. Its scale extends from E below the F Cliff note to E in alt.
†e. The musical staff. Obs.
1598Riddles Heracl. & Democr. Sol. 21 The scale of musicke is made with lines and spaces. 1609Dowland Ornith. Microl. 83 It is necessary for yong beginners to make a Scale of ten lines. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Scale of the Gamut, or Musical Scale, is a kind of Diagram, consisting of certain Lines and Spaces drawn to shew the several Degrees, whereby a Natural or Artificial Voice or Sound may either ascend or descend.
5. a. A succession or series of steps or degrees; a graduated series, succession, or progression; esp. a graduated series of beings extending from the lowest forms of existence to the highest (scale of being(s, creatures, existence, life, nature, etc.).
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 28 b, The speculation..That all things by scale did ascend to vnitie. 1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §30 How so many learned heads should so farre forget their Metaphysicks, and destroy the Ladder and scale of creatures, as to question the existence of Spirits. 1712Spect. No. 519 ⁋8 If the Scale of Being rises by such a regular Progress, so high as Man. 1732Pope Ess. Man i. 47 Then, in the scale of reas'ning life, 'tis plain, There must be, somewhere, such a rank as Man. a1781Watson Philip III, vi. (1793) II. 183 A great addition to its power and importance in the scale of nations. 1855Bain Senses & Int. i. ii. 214 A scale of degrees from the most perfect opacity..to the most perfect transparency. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. ii. 54 Plants low in the scale of organisation. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. vii, I have made up my mind that I will become respectable in the scale of society. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W., Eternal Life 211 As we ascend in the scale of Life we rise also in the scale of longevity.
b. A regular series of tones or shades of colour produced by mixing with different proportions of white or black. (Cf. It. scala di colori.)
1854Martel tr. Chevreul's Colours (facing p. 308), Table of a classification of several varieties of dahlias by scales of colours. 1872Church Colour v. 41 Every colour admits of three scales.
c. Psychol. A graded series in terms of which the measurements of such phenomena as sensations, attitudes, or mental attributes are expressed; sometimes preceded by the name of the person to whom a particular scale is attributed (as Binet scale; cf. Guttman scale), or some other qualifying word.
1898G. F. Stout Man. Psychol. I. ii. §5. 31 Thus, if we have a scale of increasing gradations of intensity, we may take as our point of departure any given intensity in the scale. We can then arrange other intensities in relation to this, proceeding by intervals which we judge to be equal. 1917Pintner & Paterson (title) Scale of performance tests. Ibid. i. 11 The Stanford Revision adheres more closely to the original Binet Scale. 1929Thurstone & Chave Measurement of Attitude ii. 22 A list of 130 statements was prepared, expressive of attitudes covering as far as possible all gradations from one end of the scale to the other. Ibid. iv. 59 The scale-values represented by the 45 statements. 1960Jrnl. Pol. XXII. 647 Scale analysis is now common enough in political science to justify omission of the details. 1966T. M. Newcomb et al. Social Psychol. xiv. 429 The scale was a revision of the original Bogardus scale. Ibid. 498 The Likert scale may seem..a natural way of drawing attitude measurements and combining them. Ibid. 523 ‘Neutral’ items in Thurstone scales are a source of considerable nonvalidity. 1972Jrnl. Social Psychol. LXXXVI. 105 The scale dimension of like–dislike was used as the source of names. 1977K. G. Shaver Princ. Social Psychol. v. 193 We have grouped the respondents in terms of a nominal scale: a scale of measurement by which the observations can be classified, but not ordered. Ibid. 194 Regardless of the distance between scores, when the data can be rank ordered (usually from the most favorable to the least favorable) they constitute what is known as an ordinal scale of measurement. Ibid. 196 When the numbers we assign to identify observations do tell us something about the distances between observations (while also providing us with a logical order), those numbers are said to constitute an interval scale of measurement. Ibid. 198 If an interval scale is constructed with an absolute zero point, rather than with an arbitrary one, that scale becomes..a ratio scale.
6. Math.
a. A number of terms included between two points in a progression or series.
1695Halley in Phil. Trans. XIX. 59 A continued Scale of Proportionals infinite in Number between the two terms of the ratio... If there be supposed between 1 and 10 an infinite Scale of mean Proportionals, whose Number is 100000. 1785Hutton Math. Tables 22 There may be as many sets or scales of logarithms as we please, since they depend intirely on the arbitrary assumption of the first two arithmeticals. 1887Cassell's Encycl. Dict., Scale of a Series: In algebra, a succession of terms, by the aid of which any term of a recurring series may be found, when a sufficient number of the preceding ones are given.
b. Arith. Any of the various conceivable systems of notation which agree in the principle that the value of a figure varies in geometrical progression according to its serial place, but are distinguished according to the number chosen as the ‘radix’ or constant multiplier.
The ‘scales’ are usually designated by the adj. derived from the Latin distributive numeral, as binary, ternary, denary, duodenary scale, though decimal and duodecimal scale are sometimes substituted. In quot. 1797 scale seems to be loosely used for radix.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) II. 290 If eight were the scale, 6 times 3 would be two classes and two units, and the number 18 would be represented by 22. 1861T. Lund Wood's Elem. Alg. §367 When the radix is 2, the scale is called Binary; when 3, Ternary; when 10, Denary or Decimal. 1875[see denary].
c. scale of (two, etc.): a scale of arithmetical notation having as radix the number given, used attrib. and absol. to designate a form of scaler (see scaler3 4) in which an output pulse is produced when a number of input pulses equal to the specified radix has been received.
1871C. Davies Metric Syst. i. 18 The scale of tens was adopted. 1932C. E. Wynn-Williams in Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXVI. 318 As the recording..values of the ‘dial’ units are, respectively, 20 or 1, 21 or 2, and 22 or 4, and since the meter indicates the total number of groups of 23 or 8, the counting is carried out according to a ‘scale of two’, the three thyratron dials recording ‘units’, ‘twos’ and ‘fours’ and the meter ‘eights’, instead of units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. 1933Ibid. CXXXIX. 621 The impulses are then applied to a ‘scale of two’ thyratron counting circuit. 1948Nucleonics Nov. 49/1 Scale-of-N circuits are important tools for counting radiations in nuclear physics, as well as for various other applications. 1950Progr. Nuclear Physics I. 109 A scale of five can be made by the use of a form of ring circuit with five valves with their cathodes connected together. 1963B. Fozard Instrumentation Nuclear Reactors viii. 75 A cascade arrangement of six scales-of-two gives an over-all scale factor of 26 or 64.
7. a. A graduated table (of prices, charges, etc.).
1780Acts & Resolves Massachusetts (1886) V. 1413 The following scale shall be the rule..for settling the rate of depreciation on all contracts. 1788Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 360 A scale of their value for every month has been settled according to what they sold for at market. 1865Shareholders' Guardian 8 Nov. 845/1 Reduction in Scale of Charges for Advertisements. 1895Law Times XCIX. 544/1 The solicitor's own remuneration is in the main based upon a scale of allowances fixed in the year 1807.
b. spec. A graduated table of wage or salary rates; transf., a wage or salary in accordance with such a table.
1921, etc. [see Burnham]. 1930[see beggar v. 3]. 1957[see label n.1 7 c]. 1968New Yorker 18 May 45/2 Pookie's Pub..is not the highest-paying club in town. I make about scale, or about a hundred and fifty a week. 1977Times Educ. Suppl. 21 Oct. 2/5 There seems to be a case for possible demotion from scales.
8. A metrical scheme. rare.
1835Anthon Horatii Poëmata p. xxiii, The scale of the mixed Iambic Trimeter is..as follows.
III. 9. a. A set or series of graduations (marked along a straight line or a curve) used for measuring distances, registering the height of a liquid, mercury, etc., or determining amounts or quantities by inspection; a graduated line, arc, etc.; spec. the equally divided line on a map, chart, or plan which indicates its scale (sense 11), and is used for finding the distance between two points.
In quot. 1606 pl., graduations.
c1391Chaucer Astrol. i. §12 Next the forseide cercle of the A. b. c., vnder the cros-lyne, is Marked the skale, in Maner of 2 Squyres or elles in Manere of laddres. 1527R. Thorne in Hakluyt's Voy. (1589) 253 Set the one foot of the compasse in the said transuersall line at the end of the nether scale, the scale of longitude, and the other foot sheweth the degree of longitude that the region is in. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 21 They take the flow o' th' Nyle By certaine scales i' th' Pyramid. 1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. ii. iv. 65 The Distance of any two places set downe in the Chart, being taken and applyed to the scale, will shew how many miles it containes. 1652(title) Posthuma [S.] Fosteri: the Description of a Ruler, Upon which is inscribed divers Scales and the Vses thereof. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 85 A small double Line divided..which is called the Scale of the Plan, and is always at the Bottom of the Paper. 1728Chambers Cycl., Decimal Scales,..to expedite Decimal Arithmetic, by Shewing by Inspection the Decimal Fraction of any Part of Money, Weight, or Measure. 1735Mortimer in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 681 Fahrenheit begins his Scale from 0. the Point to which the Mercury hath been observed to fall by the greatest Cold in Ysland. 1873Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 85 §3 A scale of feet denoting her draught of water shall be marked on each side of her stem. 1889Welch Text-bk. Naval Archit. 12 Scale of tons per inch. Scale of mean drafts.
†b. scale of logarithms, scale of numbers (see quots.).
1630Wingate Arith. ii. iv. 291 The Line of Proportion consists of two scales, viz. the scale of Logarithmes, and the Scale of Numbers. Ibid., The Scale of Logarithmes is, a scale of equall parts described vnder the common line, and abutting vpwards vpon the same line. Ibid. v. 299 The Scale of Numbers is a scale of Proportionall parts described aboue the common line, and abutting downwards vpon the same line. 1710J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Proportional Scales, sometimes also called Logarithmetical; are only the Artificial Numbers or Logarithms placed on Lines, for the ease and advantage of Multiplying, Dividing, Extracting Roots, &c. by the means of Compasses, or by Sliding-Rules.
c. diminishing scale: see quot. 1842.
1753F. Price Brit. Carpenter (ed. 3) 46 Make a diminishing scale, by setting that distance up, from t to l. 1842Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Diminishing Scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the Ionic volute.
10. a. An instrument consisting of a strip or blade of wood, ivory, metal, or cardboard having graduated and numbered spaces upon it, used for measuring or laying down distances.
diagonal scale, Gunter's scale, Marquois scale: see the qualifying words. plane († plain) scale: see plane a. 3.
1607Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 125 By the plot which he so maketh, a stranger by scale and compasse may truly find the quantities of the particulars. 1660J. Moore Arith. i. Introd. 15 Those who use a decimall foot, yard or scale. 1701[see reducing vbl. n. 2]. 1758Watson Milit. Dict. (ed. 5), A Scale, a Rule used by Engineers to draw Fortifications on Paper, and another sort used by Gunners to take the Dimensions of their Guns. 1779Ramsden Descr. Engine for dividing Strait Lines 3 Its uses for dividing all sorts of navigation scales, sectors, &c. must be obvious. 1840P. Bruff Engin. Field-work (ed. 2) 142 Press the rule gently, and move the slider on the scale. 1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. Introd. 5 The best scales are made of ivory, and are twelve inches long.
b. scale of equal parts = plane scale (plane a.3).
1630[see 9 b]. 1777Waddington Epit. Navig., Elem. Geom. 85 To make a Mercator's Chart by Meridional Parts, to be set off from a Scale of Equal Parts. 1809Troughton in Phil. Trans. XCIX. i. 109 A finely divided scale of equal parts.
11. a. The proportion which the representation of an object bears to the object itself; a system of representing or reproducing objects in a smaller or larger size proportionately in every part. to scale: with exactly proportional representation of each part of the model.
1662J. Graunt Bills of Mortality xi. 61 The Map of London set out in the year 1658 by Richard Newcourt, drawn by a scale of Yards. 1681Ray Corr. (1848) 130 To draw them in piccolo, using a small scale. 1682Grew Anat. Pl. 2 As for their Figures, it were much to be wished, That they were all drawn by one Scale; or, at most, by Two; one, for Trees and Shrubs; and another for Herbs. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §97, I made some progress in laying down to a scale, the measures taken upon paper. 1801Farmer's Mag. Aug. 270 The model of the best and cheapest cottage, on a scale of one inch to a foot. 1889Welch Text-bk. Naval Archit. i. 18 Construct to scale the curve of tons per inch immersion. 1895Bookman Oct. 26/2 Single page plans of small districts on a fair scale.
in phr. used attrib.1887J. T. Walker in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 709/2 For large scale work in plains. Ibid., The smaller scale hill topography.
†b. A unit of dimension in a representation of an object, bearing the same proportion to the unit of dimension in the object itself, as the size of the object shown on the plan bears to the actual size of the object which it represents. Obs. rare.
1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. 130 If you make every half quarter of an Inch to be a Scale for two Inches..: And if you make every half quarter of an Inch to be a Scale for four Inches.
12. a. Relative or proportionate size or extent; degree, proportion.
1607B. Jonson Volpone Ep. Ded., With what ease I could haue varied it, nearer his scale (but that I feare to boast my owne faculty) I could here insert. 1813Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XI. 6 Castaños told me that he did not think the scale of command sufficient for him who had commanded in Catalonia. 1867A. Barry Sir C. Barry vi. 207 That practice,..both in scale and area, began to diminish. 1877Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 3) II. x. 515 Its scale no doubt far surpassed that of any church then standing in England. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 259 He..adhered to the scale of non-expenditure which he found at Rainbar.
b. Photogr. The range of exposures (defined as the product of the light intensity and the time) over which a photographic material will give an acceptable variation in density. Also transf.
[1891Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 28 Feb. 104/1 By variations in the time of development it is possible to produce secondary negatives in which the scale of tones is either contracted or extended. 1920L. A. Jones in Jrnl. Franklin Inst. CLXXXIX. 480 If this scale of negative densities is too great for printing on the papers which are available, we can reduce the scale by lowering the contrast of the negative. ] Ibid. 482 The total scale of the paper may be defined as the range of light intensities, expressed either in log exposure or exposure units, which can be reproduced by the paper as perceptibly different densities.1942C. E. K. Mees Theory Photographic Process xix. 736 If all different gradations on the negative are to be rendered as different gradations in the print, the scale of the paper must be at least as great as the difference between the maximum and minimum densities of the negative. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 127/1 The persistence of the scope that was necessary for a raster scan took five seconds from top to bottom, and did not have enough grey scale for good pictures. 1970G. L. Wakefield Practical Sensitometry viii. 83 A medium speed film is likely to have an exposure scale of at least 1,000 to 1 and it can be even bigger. On a log basis this is a range of 3·0 and higher. As a rule, the faster the material the larger the exposure scale.
c. economy (economies, economics) of scale, the relative gain in output or saving of costs derived from an increase in the size of plant or of a firm.
1944A. Cairncross Introd. Econ. vi. 61 The economies of large-scale production—called for short ‘economies of scale’—may be either ‘internal’ or ‘external’. Ibid. xv. 195 Economies of scale, and economies of scale alone, make costs fall as output increases. 1953Stonier & Hague Textbk. Econ. Theory x. 221 Over relatively low levels of output it is likely that increasing returns to outlay will occur, because with larger output there are economies of scale to be reaped. 1966A. Battersby Math. in Management ix. 220 A picture of the familiar ‘economy of scale’ which results from spreading the fixed costs over a large number of items. 1972Observer 20 Aug. 9/7 The economics of scale, that much-abused phrase, used to justify any increase in size.
13. fig.
a. A standard of measurement, calculation, or estimation.
1626Bacon Sylva §835 Definite Axiomes are to be drawn out of Measured Instances: And so Assent to be made to the more Generall Axiomes, by Scale. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvii. 157 The Degrees of Crime are taken on divers Scales. 1692Ray Disc. ii. (1732) 91 Taking my Measures..by the Scale of the Eye. 1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 292 Ev'n mean Self-love becomes, by force divine, The scale to measure others' wants by thine. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 192/1 A scale according to which the natural fertility of different soils can be classed.
b. Phr. on or upon a (large, small, liberal, etc.) scale. Also with ellipsis of adj., and with n., as on a world scale.
1784Cowper Tiroc. 703 Were education..Conducted on a manageable scale. 1793Burke Let. to Sir G. Elliot in Corr. (1844) IV. 151 On a far larger scale..than civil wars have generally extended themselves to. 1808Scott Autobiogr. in Lockhart I. i. 49, I have all my life delighted in travelling, though I have never enjoyed that pleasure upon a large scale. 1843Prescott Mexico i. ii. I. 35 His ordinary domestic expenditure..was certainly on no stinted scale. 1857Buckle Civiliz. I. xiii. 739 It must be allowed that in his intellect, everything was on a great scale. 1904H. James Golden Bowl I. i. ii. 26 Maggie's too wonderful—her preparations are on a scale! 1968Times 15 Oct. 16/7 Possible arrangements on a world scale are affected by the telescopes available.
14. a. Sculpture. = scale-stone (see 16). b. Painting. ‘A figure subdivided by lines like a ladder, which is used to measure proportions between pictures and the things represented’ (Cassell's Encycl. Dict.).
1834–6Barlow in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 788/2 A wooden perpendicular rule the height of the work, which is movable from the strip of marble or scale under the model to that under the block of marble which is to be cut.
15. The ratio of the width of an organ-pipe to its length.
1881Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 78 A pipe of a large ‘scale’, by which organ builders mean a wide pipe, gives a much louder tone than a narrower one of the same length. 1884Bosanquet in Encycl. Brit. XVII. 830/2 The scales..and voicing of the open diapason vary with fashion.
IV.
16. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 9) scale-bar, scale-pipette, scale-reading; (sense 4) scale degree, scale passage, scale singing; (sense 11) scale drawing, scale model, scale plan; (sense 7) scale charge, scale fee; scale effect, an effect occurring when the scale of something is changed, as a result of contributory factors not all varying in proportion; spec. (see quot. 1940); scale factor, a numerical factor by which each of a set of quantities is multiplied; scale height, the vertical distance over which an atmospheric parameter or other quantity decreases by a factor e (= 2·718{ddd}); scale-micrometer (see quot.); scale-paper, paper having printed upon it divisions in eights, tenths, &c. of an inch for drawing in proportion (Dict. Archit. Publ. Soc. 1881); scale-stairs Sc., ‘straight flights of steps, as opposed to a stair of spiral form’ (Jam.); so scale-staircase; scale-stone, -stool (see quot. 1859).
1974Nature 18 Oct. 647 (caption) Fully developed vegetative colonies (1 month old) on liquid surface (*scale bar, 0·5 cm).
1890Daily News 5 Feb. 6/4 Each tenant has been black⁓mailed of eight guineas for a simple licence, in addition to the *scale charges for the conveyance of the house.
1889Century Dict. s.v. Degree, To distinguish between degrees of the staff and degrees of the scale, the terms staff⁓degree and *scale-degree are sometimes used.
1856Orr's Circ. Sci., Mech. Philos. 260 In addition to the *scale⁓drawings of the whole, it is the practice of the best engineers to execute full-sized drawings of details. 1890W. J. Gordon Foundry 153 A complete set of scale drawings, in which every detail is set out.
1917Rep. & Mem. Advisory Comm. Aeronaut. (1921) No. 374 (heading) Report of the *scale effect sub⁓committee. 1930Engineering 20 June 802/2 The skin friction of the plate gives a slightly erroneous velocity distribution under the model car... Still, the errors due to these imperfections are hardly likely to be so much greater than other unavoidable uncertainties, arising from scale effect and the varying conditions of full-scale operations. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 743/1 Scale effect, the effect of a change in Reynolds number upon the measured results in the performance of aerodynamic bodies. 1978H. C. H. Armstead Geothermal Energy xv. 244 With conventional thermal power plants the capital cost per kilowatt installed is sensitive to what is generally known as the ‘scale effect’; that is to say, a very large plant will tend to cost less per kilowatt than a small plant of similar type. 1979Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 12/5 If you were trying to apply this concept to a Jaguar, you would need about a 20-litre engine—it only works because of the scale effect..on a very small car.
1948Electronics Apr. 127/1 The corresponding initial voltages must be computed and the integrators set accordingly, using the correct *scale factor. 1963[see sense 6 c]. 1968P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory v. 244 Thus Sn has the same distribution as the Xi but increased by the scale factor n½. 1975Sci. Amer. Nov. 120/2 The price paid for conformality is a distortion of the scale factor that increases with distance from the centre of the map.
1970Which? Mar. 72/2 They saved the solicitor's *scale fee on the price of the house they were buying or selling. The higher the price of the house, the higher the fee.
1937S. Chapman in Rep. Progr. Physics III. 44 H may then be interpreted as a unit of height-measurement relative to which, at the given level, the rate of upward decrease of log p is unity... The term ‘height of the homogeneous atmosphere’ is clearly not appropriate when H varies with height, and the name (local) ‘*scale-height’ may be suggested. 1976Sci. Amer. Mar. 53/1 In the sun or in the earth's atmosphere the size of the dominant energy-carrying cells is on the order of one scale height. 1978Nature 26 Oct. 726/1 Suppose that 1038 ergs-1 of X rays are emitted by the pulsar... Assume the scale height of the photons is 3 × 108 cm.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Scale-micrometer, a graduated scale in the field of a telescope for measuring distances between objects.
1934Planning I. xxii. 6 This is not, therefore, a scheme but a *scale model for one, intended to show precisely what is involved. 1952‘T. Hinde’ Mr. Nicholas v. 87 He had..small features..as neat as a scale model.
1907Daily Chron. 16 Nov. 5/2 Her..facile execution of the *scale passages.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Scale-pipette, a tubular pipette having a graduated scale on the side.
1908Westm. Gaz. 10 Aug. 3/1 All the old *scale plans and technical drawings.
1868*Scale-reading [see electrometry]. 1873Maxwell Electr. & Magn. II. 338 The scale-reading at certain definite times. 1962L. S. Sasieni Optical Dispensing v. 110 A slight turn..will have the effect of moving both scale-readings in the same direction.
1890Daily News 17 Feb. 3/2 Imperfect *scale singing.
c1730Burt Lett. N. Scot. iii. (1754) I. 63 [In Inverness] a round Stair Case, [is called] a Turnpike; and a Square one goes by the Name of a *Skale Stair.
1821Scott Kenilw. vi, Access was given to them [sc. apartments] by a large *scale staircase, as they were then called.
1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 142/1 The whole instrument is then removed to the *scale-stone on which the rough block is placed.
1859Encycl. Brit. (ed. 8) XIX. 868/2 If the model is to be copied in marble or stone, the first step is to procure a block of the required size. Two stones, called *scale-stones, are then prepared, upon one of which the model or plaster cast is placed, and upon the other the rough block of marble. The fronts of these stones have figured marks or ‘scales’ exactly corresponding. 1893Symonds Michel Angelo I. 104 The ingenious process of ‘pointing the marble’ by means of the ‘pointing machine’ and ‘scale-stones’.
1874‘N. D'Anvers’ Elem. Hist. Art, Sculpture (1889) 176 The cast and the marble are placed on two blocks, called *scale-stools, exactly alike.
▪ IV. scale, n.4 dial.|skeɪl|
Also 8 skell, 9 skeal(l.
[a. ON. skáli wk. masc.:—OTeut. type *skǣlon-, f. *skǣl- (:*skal-, *skel-) to separate: see scale n.1, shale n. Cf. sheal, shieling.]
A hut, shed.
a1300Cursor M. 8592 For þai had husing nan to wale, Þai lended in a littel scale. 1787J. Clarke Surv. Lakes Introd. 30 The booths likewise, constructed for the watchers of cattle in summer,..were Skells or Scales. 1878Cumbld. Gloss., Skeàll, a scale; a shed or building on the fell. 1895Lakel. & Icel. Gloss. s.v., Used of wooden huts put up as a temporary protection for turf, which are called ‘peat scales’.
▪ V. † scale, n.5 Obs.
[ad. med.L. scala, whence OF. eschiel(l)e, eskiele (see eschele).]
A maniple, squadron, or battalion.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxx. 135 Withouten þe principall oste..and also withouten certayne scales [orig. Fr. escheles] þat er ordaynd for forraying. 1591Garrard's Art Warre 166 These bodies..are of many called maniples, or scales.
▪ VI. scale, n.6|skeɪl|
[f. scale v.3]
†1. = escalade. Obs.
1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1190/1 Diuerse bands..entring the ditches offered the scale. 1589P. Ive Pract. Fortif. 3 The fort..will be free from surprise, skale, and myning. 1633T. Stafford Pac. Hib. x. (1821) 121 Surprised by Scale, a Castle in the heart of the Countrie. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 652 Others to a Citie strong Lay Siege, encampt; by Batterie, Scale, and Mine, Assaulting.
2. The estimation of an amount of timber standing or in logs; the amount of the estimate.
1877Mich. Reports XXXIV. 376 To conclude the parties in that respect by his scale. Ibid. XXXV. 521 The scale bill showed four hundred and ninety three thousand five hundred and seventeen feet of white pine. 1880Northwest. Lumberman 24 Jan., For punky knots the general rule is to allow the whole scale of the log for defects. Ibid., A buyer should be allowed..one-half the scale of the punky log.
▪ VII. † scale, n.7 Obs.
[ad. OF. scal(l)e, escal(l)e (mod.F. escale, esp. in phr. faire escale to go ashore) or its source It. scala = Sp., Pg. escala seaport, harbour:—L. scāla ladder (see scale n.3).]
a. A landing-place; occas. a custom-house. rare.
1682Wheler Journ. to Greece iii. 246 On the other side..is the Scale, or Custom-house for the Grand Signiors own Subjects. 1683in Misc. Curiosa (1708) III. 49 Montanea..is the Scale or Landing-place for Prusa. 1813J. C. Hobhouse Journey (ed. 2) 639 At the extremity of the inner bay there is a sort of scale or landing-place.
b. A seaport town; a trading port; a centre of trade or traffic; an emporium.
1613Sir A. Sherley Trav. Persia 9 The Turke hauing giuen certaine scales to trade in. 1628Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 42 The 24. the English Viceconsull att Scanderone came to me with a letter from the Aga there desiring me to be gone, for that I disturbed the Gran Signiors scale there. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 38 A Maritim Town,..her chiefest Arsenal for Gallies, and the Scale by which she conveys her Moneys to Italy. 1682Wheler Journ. to Greece i. 16 It [Spalato] being the chief Scale of Trade for Shipping of Goods from Turkey to Venice.
attrib.1674Evelyn Navig. & Comm. Misc. Writ. (1825) 648 Tripoly, and Alexandretta.., and..Aleppo..to which scale merchants came..from all the oriental countries.
▪ VIII. scale, v.1|skeɪl|
Also 7 skale.
[f. scale n.1]
1. trans. To weigh in scales, find the weight of.
1691Virginia Stat. at Large (1823) III. 76 That the court..appoint..fitt..persons..to..scale such leather as they shall find sufficiently curryed. 1883Harper's Mag. Apr. 692/1 The cheeses go..to the..weigh-house to be scaled.
b. Baking. To weigh out (dough) in proper quantities for making up into loaves. Usually with off.
1841Guide to Trade, Baker 40 The dough is pitched out of the trough on to the lid of the opposite trough, when it is cut into masses and weighed—technically scaled off. 1875J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. III. 253/2 It [sc. dough] is then ‘scaled off’, i.e., weighed on scales in pieces of 4lb. 4 oz., if 4 lb loaves are to be made. 1890Sci. Amer. 1 Mar. 140/3 It [sc. the sponge] is..‘scaled’ into loaves, and baked.
†2. fig.
a. To weigh as in scales; hence, to compare, estimate. Obs.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 266 By this is your brother saued, your honor vntainted, the poore Mariana aduantaged, and the corrupt Deputy scaled. 1607― Cor. ii. iii. 257 Skaling his present bearing with his past.
†b. With up: To compensate, balance. Obs.
1622Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 1, I put Charge and Care in one Scale, and Resolution in the other, which scaled them both up.
3. To weigh, have a weight of (so much).
1862H. H. Dixon (‘The Druid’) Scott & Sebright 13 Eleven [stone] was his regular racing weight, and he scaled ten and a half at a pinch. 1867Lowell Study Wind., Gt. Public Char. (1871) 68, I scale one hundred and eighty pounds, but when I'm mad I weigh two ton. 1888Rider Haggard Maiwa's Rev. iv, The single tusk of the big bull [elephant] scaled one hundred and sixty pounds.
absol.1869‘Wat. Bradwood’ O.V.H. xxix, At a weight to which Ralph could not scale. 1886Times (weekly ed.) 6 Aug. 13/4 The deer..are sure to scale heavily when the stalking is in full swing.
b. Racing. To be weighed. to scale in: to be weighed after the race, to ‘weigh in’.
1859H. H. Dixon (‘The Druid’) Silk & Scarlet 127 No welcome (1) was printed after his name till he scaled-in for Wanton. 1869‘Wat. Bradwood’ O.V.H. xviii, The open steeplechase, for which the jockeys had long ago scaled.
▪ IX. scale, v.2|skeɪl|
Also 6 scaale, 7 skale.
[f. scale n.2 Cf. F. écailler.]
1. a. trans. To remove the scales from (fish, etc.).
c1440Promp. Parv. 442/1 Scalyn fysche, exquamo. 1530Palsgr. 699/1 You are a cooke for the nones, wyll you sethe these roches or you have scaled them? 1598Epulario F iv, The fish which you wil rost would not be scaled. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 98 A kind of glew made of Perches skin well scaled. 1747H. Glasse Cookery ix. 117 Scale, and clean your Salmon down the Back. 1800Phil. Trans. XC. 163 Three herrings,..after being scaled and gutted.
b. In various technical uses:
(a) To remove the scale or film of oxide from the surface of (metal), esp. as a preparatory process for tinning. Also absol. (b) To clean the bore of (a gun or cannon) by firing off a charge of powder. (c) To remove tartar from (the teeth).
1702Savery Miner's Friend 71 A red Heat, and sudden cooling it again, will Scale the Copper. 1728Rutty Tin-Plates in Phil. Trans. XXXV. 633 If you scale with Vinegar..you need only plunge the Leaves once or twice at farthest. 1784J. King Voy. Pacific v. x. 447 We unmoored, and scaled the guns. 1805Pike Sources Mississ. (1810) 2 We..discharged our guns at a target, and scaled out our blunderbusses. 1823Byron Island ii. xxi, We have got some guns to bear, And scaled them. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1252 They [sc. iron plates] are..once more exposed to ignition in a furnace, whereby they are scaled, that is to say, cast their scales. 1840De Loude Dentistry 97 The principal parts of operative dentistry.. consist of scaling the teeth, lancing and scarifying the gums [etc.].
2. a. To remove as scale; to take off or away in scales. Also, to separate into layers. to be scaled: to have the surface removed in scales or flakes.
a1552Leland Itin. (1768) I. 96 They be sore woren and scalid with wether. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1187 This aire..forceth out of it a deale of rust, and skaleth as it were much terrestrial substance from it. 1611Cotgr., Rugine, the Instrument wherewith a Surgeon scaleth bones. 1611Bible Tobit iii. 17 To scale away the whitenesse of Tobits eyes. 1667Waterhouse Narr. Fire in London 75 The Stones of the outside so scaled, as if the Fire was greedy to eat out all firmness in them. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iii. viii. 146 It may be scaled into four plates. 1754J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery (ed. 2) xxxv. 293 Taking care that it does not penetrate too deep, so as to scale off the thin bone. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VII. 6 If the external coat be scaled off. 1843Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 161/1 The stones being..scaled by frost.
†b. ? To split off scales or flakes from (coin) for the purpose of fraud. Obs.
1576Act 18 Eliz. c. i. §1 Yf any person..deminishe falsefy skale or lighten the proper Moneys or Coignes of this Realme.
c. Austral. and N.Z. slang. To defraud or cheat (someone), to steal (something). In phr. to scale a train or tram, to ride without paying on public transport; also intr.
1916A. Wright Under Cloud 32 ‘How'd that happen,’ asks Bill Odzon. ‘Didn't think anyone could scale you.’ 1941Baker N.Z. Slang vii. 62 When we are taken down financially we are scaled. 1945― Austral. Lang. v. 103 A steel jockey is a tramp who scales a train or rides without paying. Ibid. 106 One can get scaled, in the sense of being done down, when overcharged for goods. 1953‘Caddie’ Sydney Barmaid xiv. 132 Better..than for them to be getting about the streets with snotty noses, and scaling trams. 1953D. Cusack Southern Steel 3 Bumping in on the back of the old steam trams, too often scaling on the footboards because he hadn't the money to pay the penny fare.
3. intr. To come off (or away) in scales, flakes, or thin pieces; to flake or peel off. Also, of skin eruptions: To shed scales.
1529[see scald a.1 1]. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 407 Annoint him..vntil the fiered place beginne to scale. 1675H. Woolley Gentlw. Comp. 179 It [sc. a scaldhead] will scale off. 1743Pococke Descr. East l. 8 The pillar is well preserved, except that it has scaled away a very little to the south. 1752Hollis in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 392 It is hoped the Voyage and Climate has not made it scale or fade. 1832Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 220 Small angular fragments of limestone, which scale off under the influence of frost and rain. 1843R. J. Graves Lect. Clin. Med. xxx. 385 Crops of pimples which scale away. 1884Howells Silas Lapham i. i, It ain't a-going to crack nor fade any; and it ain't a-going to scale.
4. trans. Of disease: To cover with scales. rare.
1889Tennyson Happy vii, The leper plague may scale my skin but never taint my heart.
▪ X. scale, v.3|skeɪl|
Forms: 5 skayle, 5–7 skale, 6 scaile, skaille, 7 skaile, skall, scall, 5– scale.
[f. scale n.3 Cf. OF. escaller (15th c.); also It. scalare, Sp., Pg. escalar.]
I.
1. a. trans. To attack with scaling ladders; to take by escalade.
a1400Morte Arth. 3034 The kynge..Skyftis his skotiferis, and skayles the wallis. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 6420 To skale þe wal after þei be-gonne. 1475Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 16 To aproche the towne for to scale yt. 1587Greene Euphues his Censure Wks. (Grosart) VI. 220 Had not the citizens made as violent an intermedley,..the citty had bene scaled and sacked. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 24 Great multitudes of the assaylants..attempting to scale the fort. 1737Pope Hor. Ep. ii. ii. 40 He leap'd the trenches, scal'd a Castle-wall. 1838Thirlwall Greece xxxviii. V. 35 The assailants offered large rewards to the first who should scale the walls.
b. To climb, get over (a wall or the like); to ascend (a mountain); to get to or reach the top of.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 31 How often have I scaled the craggie Oke, All to dislodge the Raven of her nest? 1605London Prodigal iii. iii. 255 That to him is as impossible As 'twere with me to scale the pyramids. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. xvi. 94 To find the Height of an House,..and the length of the Ladder which will Scale it. 1680Otway Orphan iii. vii. (1705) 1301 I'll scale the Window and come in by force. 1762Goldsm. Cit. W. lvii. 256 She proposed that instant to scale the garden wall. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 50 It has long been the ambition of climbers to scale this peak. 1878Maclear Celts i. 8 Scaling the mighty barrier of the Alps, they descended upon the fertile vales of Southern Europe.
c. transf. and fig. or in fig. context.
1557Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 172 When Cupide scaled first the fort, Wherin my hart lay wounded sore. 1563Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xix, When sickenes seekes his castell health to skale. a1625Fletcher Wom. Pleased i. i, Is your old Mistris growne so coy and cruell, She must be scal'd? 1755Young Centaur vi. Wks. 1757 IV. 245, I shall scale the summit of human nature. 1847Tennyson Princess vii. 245 She that out of Lethe scales with man The shining steps of Nature. 190819th Cent. Oct. 621 He has proved the value of attempting, at least, to scale the loftiest heights.
d. Of waves beating upon a ship or a cliff.
1401Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 109 Ȝour brymme blastis awake the wilde wawlis, and scalen sely Peter ship. 1823Byron Island iii. i, When scaling his enormous crag the wave Is hurl'd down headlong.
2. To ‘mount’ (the skies): to ascend or climb up into (heaven). Often allusive.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 6 Þus men moten nedis scale [v.r. stiȝe] heven. 1585Montgomerie Sonnets xiii. 3 Bright Apollo..Quhais glorious glance ȝit stoutly skaillis the skyis. 1614Chapman Odyss. iv. 57 Ile vtter truth in all; When heauens supremest height, the Sunne doth skall. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 6 He piles palaces on bridges, and temples on palaces, and scales Heaven with mountains of edifices. 1784Cowper Task iii. 221 God never meant that man should scale the heav'ns By strides of human wisdom. 1815Shelley Alastor 278 [A swan] rose as he approached, and with strong wings Scaling the upward sky [etc.]. 1877H. M. Field Lakes of Killarney 198 This is the highest pass in Europe..and on this day it seemed as if we were scaling heaven itself.
3. a. intr. To climb (over), ascend, mount.
a1547Surrey æneid ii. (1557) C j, The Grekes..rered vp ladders against the walles, Under the windowes scaling by their steppes. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 265 b, He..was avauncing his ladders to scale. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 440 Her bare breast,..Whose ranks of blue veins, as his hand did scale, Left their round turrets destitute and pale. 1601Holland Pliny I. 170 He..was honored with a murall crown of gold for skaling over the wall in an assault. 1645Symonds Diary (Camden) 224 Our men alighted and with their pistolls scalld and gott in. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. 171 Having scaled as far as the dining-room. 1843Tennyson Two Voices lix, That men with knowledge merely play'd, I told thee—hardly nigher made, Tho' scaling slow from grade to grade.
b. Of steps, etc.: To ascend, mount.
1667Milton P.L. iii. 541 The lower stair That scal'd by steps of Gold to Heav'n Gate. 1861Lytton & Fane Tannhäuser 88 Flights of blinding brilliancy of stairs..that..Scaled to the City of the Saints of God. 1863P. S. Worsley Poems & Transl. 9 Far up the vault a dazzling pavement,..Scaled to the zenith.
c. Of the voice or a musical instrument: To rise high.
1859Tennyson Elaine 1013 Call and I follow, I follow! let me die. High with the last line scaled her voice. 1901G. L. Dickinson Meaning of Good 227 The rhythm grew more and more rapid, the instruments scaled higher and higher.
II. To measure or regulate by a scale.
4. a. trans. To fix the exact amount of. U.S.
1798Washington's Rep. I. 130 Two accounts, in one of which he scales the credits, and in the other fixes them at their nominal amount.
b. With down: To reduce in amount according to a fixed scale or standard. Also loosely, to reduce. ? orig. U.S.
1887Pall Mall G. 31 Oct. 6/1 There are several ways..in which boy and girl labour is utilized [in New York] to the disadvantage of adult labour, with the consequence of scaling down the adult's income. 1888Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Oct. 340 At this rate it will require seventeen and one-half years, provided there be no failure of the bills during that period, and that the item be not scaled down. 1933Sun (Baltimore) 5 Apr. 8/2 The indebted farmer gets his mortgage debt scaled down, but with that scaling down the payment of interest again becomes the vogue. 1934[see next sense]. 1937Physical Rev. LI. 1027/1 (heading) Vacuum tube circuits for scaling down counting rates. 1952M. Laski Village v. 95 Hospitality had been empirically scaled down to a universally possible level. 1979Daily Tel. 19 May 2/1 The original pay claim for a 30 per cent. rise has been scaled down to 16 per cent.
c. With up: to increase in amount or size according to a fixed scale or standard; to increase from a small scale to a larger scale. Also absol.
1891Daily News 17 Jan. 2/5 The scaling up instead of scaling down the London, Chatham, and Dover stock. 1934W. Nelson Seaplane Design vi. 64 Scaling the size of existing floats and hulls up and down can be done to arrive at the dimensions of a new design. 1972Aquaculture I. 182 During the summer of 1971, the project was scaled up in size and moved out-of-doors. 1973Times 28 Nov. 19/5 If the pilot plant can be scaled up at this figure it offers great hopes for the development of these abundant fuel reserves. 1975Nature 17 Jan. 149/3 There will probably be no need to scale up since the existing plant can cope with 50 tons every 24 hours. 1977Undercurrents June–July 7/1 It remains doubtful whether the process..can work safely and effectively when ‘scaled-up’ to commercial size. 1979Sci. Amer. Jan. 45/1 Several organizations are currently scaling up from laboratory-size cells to units of demonstration size.
d. To measure or represent (a quantity) in exact proportion to its absolute size or according to an arbitrary defined scale.
1885W. Penman Land Surveying ix. 127 An area to the scale of 1 chain = 1 inch was scaled and found to give 12 ac. 1 ro. 01 pls. 1898F. E. Dixon T. Baker's Rudimentary Treat. Land & Engin. Surveying (ed. 17) xii. 182 It sometimes happens that a distance is scaled on a plan using..a wrong scale. 1923Rep. Internat. Air Congr., London, 1923 63 Not only is it difficult to scale the printed forms with accuracy, but there is no assurance that the silhouette corresponds closely with the model tested in the wind channel. 1940Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. LIII. 336 (caption) The curve shows how pitch, scaled in subjective units..varies with frequency. 1951S. S. Stevens Handbk. Experim. Psychol. i. 23/1 These operations are limited ordinarily by the peculiarities of the thing being scaled. 1951H. P. Bechtoldt in Ibid. xxxiii. 1240/2 Multiple-category qualitative variables representing intensive dimensions are ‘scaled’ in various ways, and numerical scores are determined. 1966T. M. Newcomb et al. Social Psychol. (ed. 2) 506 In a most interesting approach to problems of scaling attitudes..Guttman..began to examine items apparently ordered on the basis of ‘difficulty’. 1971J. B. Carroll et al. Word Freq. Bk. p. xxvii, The base line of Graph 1 is scaled, not in terms of ϕ, but in terms of a further transformation of ϕ to the Standard Frequency Index. 1976B. S. Phillips Social Res. (rev. ed.) ix. 211 Select or construct those items that you wish to scale.
e. To alter (a quantity or property) by changing the units in which it is measured; to change the size of (a system or device) while keeping its parts in constant proportion.
1954Computers & Automation Dec. 20/2 Scale, computation. To change the scale (that is, the units) in which a variable is expressed so as to bring it within the capacity of the machine or program at hand. 1966R. C. Carter Introd. Electr. Circuit Analysis vii. 239 Once the desired design performance has been achieved in the low-frequency prototype laboratory model, all factors involving frequency and impedance may be scaled to the desired operating range. 1974Physics Bull. Mar. 98/3 The symmetry transformation consists of scaling the physical dimensions d of the system according to d→λd. If the equilateral triangle of figure 1 is scaled then although the size is changed, the geometric shape and all the dimensionless properties of the triangle such as the angles remain unchanged. 1978Sci. Amer. Dec. 128/2 The radio waves, completely unattenuated by the intervening dust, can be scaled several orders of magnitude in frequency to predict the true intensity of the optical radiation.
f. intr. Of a quantity or property: to vary according to a defined rule or principle.
1974Physics Bull. Mar. 98/3 The invariance of all dimensionless properties can be used to determine whether the figure scales or not. 1978Nature 20 Apr. 737/3 Surprisingly the limiting torque, even at optimised pressures, scales only at [recte as] T1/4.
5. Lumber-trade.
a. To measure (logs), or estimate the amount of (standing timber).
1867Lowell Fitz Adam's Story 526, I expect I can Scale a fair load of wood with e'er a man. 1873Wisconsin Rep. XXXI, As soon as said logs shall be all rafted they shall be scaled. 1877Michigan Rep. XXXV. 412 The logs were to be scaled by a scaler named.
b. Of timber: To produce or furnish (so much).
1853Lowell Moosehead Jrnl. Pr. Wks. 1890 I. 32 Their eye, accustomed to reckoning the number of feet a tree will scale. 1884C. S. Sargent Rep. For. N. Amer. 555 Trees which would scale from 1,000 to 3,500 feet of lumber each.
6. a. To estimate the proportions of.
1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile vi. 144 In the absence of any near object by which to scale them. 1902Blackw. Mag. June 865/2 The inability of the Australian labouring man to scale things correctly.
b. To provide a standard of proportion for.
1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 29 Pews..architects say, scale a building; that is, they give the eye a constant standard for judging of its size.
7. trans. Of a scaler (see scaler3 4): to count (electrical pulses). Also absol.
1938Rev. Sci. Instruments IX. 221/1 The circuit either scaled correctly or no counts were registered. 1947Ibid. XXIV. 322/1 Although not developed as a high-frequency instrument, the model will scale a regular pulse input up to frequencies of the order of 100 kc/s.
Add:[I.] [2.] b. To send (a flat object, esp. a stone) sliding or skimming across a surface or through the air. Also transf. U.S.
c1870in Dict. Amer. Eng. IV. 2029/2 To scale, to go, or make go, sideling..to skip, ricochet, or cause to do so. 1877Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4) 644 Scaling stones (upon the water) was a common New England expression for what English boys call ‘making ducks and drakes’. 1928in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1959F. Astaire Steps in Time (1960) xi. 101, I yanked that wig off my head and scaled it across the entire length of the stage. 1982J. May Many-Coloured Land ii. xiii. 226 The knight picked a blood-smeared golden hoop from the mess and scaled it far out over the lake, where it sank without a trace.
8. To arrange on a scale; to graduate.
1934in Webster. 1964C. Chaplin My Autobiogr. xi. 185 The Essanay Company..was scaling its terms according to the seating capacity of a theatre. 1977South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 13 Apr. 11/3 Triad membership fees are scaled on the basis of how much the recruit is prepared to pay or can be made to pay. |