scale 1 
(skāl)
(skāl)n.
1.
a. One of the many small hard dermal or epidermal structures that characteristically form the external covering of fishes and reptiles and certain mammals, such as pangolins.
b. A similar part in other animals, such as one of the thin flat overlapping structures that cover the wings of butterflies and moths.
2. A small, thin, often flattened plant structure, such as one of the modified leaves that cover a tree bud or one of the structures that bear the reproductive organs on the cones of a conifer.
3.
a. A dry thin flake of epidermis shed from the skin.
b. A skin lesion or lesions marked by such flakes.
4.
a. A scale insect.
b. A plant disease or infestation caused by scale insects.
5.
a. A flaky oxide film formed on a metal, as on iron, that has been heated to high temperatures.
b. A flake of rust.
6. A hard mineral coating that forms on the inside surface of boilers, kettles, and other containers in which water is repeatedly heated.
v. scaled, scal·ing, scales
v.tr.
1. To clear or strip of scale or scales: Scale and clean the fish.
2. To remove in layers or scales: scaled off the old paint.
3. To cover with scales; encrust.
4. To throw or propel (a thin flat object) through the air or along a surface, such as water or ice.
5. Dentistry To remove (tartar) from tooth surfaces with a pointed instrument.
6. Australian
a. To cheat; swindle.
b. To ride on (a tram, for example) without paying the fare.
v.intr.
1. To come off in scales or layers; flake.
2. To become encrusted.
[Middle English, from Old French escale, husk, shell, influenced in meaning by Old French escaille, scale of a fish or reptile (both of Germanic origin; see skel-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]
scalelike adj.
scale1cone of a white pine