scanningn.
/ˈskanɪŋ/ The action of the verb.
1.
a. Prosody. = scansion n. 2.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > study of poetry > [noun] > prosody > metrics > scansion
scanningc1440
meting1644
scansion1671
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 442/2 Scannynge, of verse, scansio.
1586 W. Webbe Disc. Eng. Poetrie sig. G.iiii All quantities necessary to the skannning [sic] of any verse.
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. B2v This Scanning was a liberal Art that we learn'd at Grammar-School.
1797 Monthly Mag. 3 258 It will be verse only to the scanning, and neither verse nor prose to the ear.
1886 J. B. Mayor Eng. Metre iv. 54 We come now to the lines which are said to be beyond the reach of analysis by feet. I give what I consider the true scanning of each.
b. Pathology. (Cf. scanning adj. 2.)
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the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > [noun] > specific disorders or faults
tongue-tiedness1598
plateasm1656
tongue-tying1762
paraphonia1772
lullaby-speech1822
cleft palate1847
paralalia1848
logoneurosis1857
zetacism1860
alogia1864
lallation1864
lambdacism1864
semi-mute1864
heterophemy1875
agrammatism1877
bradyphrasia1877
heterophasia1877
logopathy1877
paragraphia1877
paralexia1877
paraphasia1877
paraphrasia1877
verbigeration1877
recurring utterance1878
word blindness1878
word deafness1878
scanning1887
sigmatism1888
idioglossia1891
staccato utterance1898
word salad1904
palilalia1908
paragrammatism1924
idiolalia1930
dysprosody1947
Broca's aphasia1959
1887 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 2 Apr. 732/2 A case of locomotor ataxy..with ‘scanning’ of speech.
2.
a. Close investigation or consideration, critical examination or judgement; discussion, comment, perception, discernment. Cf. scan v. 2b. Phrases, †to have (a matter) in scanning, †to come, fall to scanning.
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the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > [noun]
examininga1325
examinationa1450
examine1494
examen1502
scanning1560
scrutation1593
scrutiny1604
pervestigation1610
microscope1671
introspectiona1676
scan1706
bolting1771
conning1823
grubbing1831
vivisection1880
searchlight1891
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > examine closely [verb (intransitive)] > be scrutinized
to come, fall to scanning1560
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxxxviij Therfore muste prynces and noble men be at the skannyng therof.
1575 Record's Grounde of Artes (rev. ed.) Cc vj b If some cunning Lawyers had this matter in scanning, they would determine this Testament to be quite voide.
?1576 G. Gascoigne Spoyle of Antwerpe sig. C7 But I leaue the skanning of theyr deedes vnto God.
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 57 Another question falleth sometimes into scanning, namely [etc.].
1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vii. xliii. 374/1 It was therefore instantly desired, that the cause might once more come to scanning.
1679 T. Hobbes Behemoth (unauthorized ed.) 3 The private Interpretation of the Scripture exposed to every Mans scanning in his Mother Tongue.
1699 J. Pomfret Marriage Earl of A—— 76 Ev'ry teeming thought, Is to the scanning of her judgment brought.
1714 T. Hearne Ductor Historicus (ed. 3) I. iii. 413 They used a sweet fluent kind of Rhetorick..which..serv'd only to put a present good Face upon an Argument, but would not bear Scanning.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iii. 165 The ‘Tree Igdrasil’ buds and withers by its own laws,—too deep for our scanning.
b. The action of systematically traversing with a beam or detector, as in Television. In Medicine, the process or action of making a scan of the body or part of it; cf. brain scanning n. at brain n. Compounds 2.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical skills and techniques > [noun] > optical scanning
scanning1927
scan1937
optical scanning1953
optical character recognition1958
OCR1966
society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc.
scanning1927
scanning spot1929
flying spot1933
interlacing1935
line scanning1935
interlace1936
line scan1938
matrixing1951
line blanking1952
the world > health and disease > healing > diagnosis or prognosis > radiography or radiology > scanning > [noun]
scanning1951
scintiscanning1954
photoscanning1956
scintigraphy1957
scintillography1958
1927 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 6 552 We have thus available in television the same artifice..that is, of scanning, or running over the elements of the image in sequence.
1931 Daily Tel. 6 Jan. 11/7 A selective apparatus that dissects each picture into its component elements of light and shade, a process known as ‘scanning’.
1933 Discovery May 156/2 As much as 120-line scanning was used, thus permitting very fine detail indeed.
1936 Electr. Commun. XV. 187/1 The most recent demonstration of television in Italy was at Milan in April, 1936. The equipment employed electronic scanning for transmission.
1951 Nucleonics Aug. 46/2 The results indicated the desirability of an automatic scanning and recording device.
1956 Radiology 66 730/1 During the past four years.., external scintillation counter scanning has been used to provide information relative to the distribution of radioactive isotopes in patients.
1968 Sci. News 6 Apr. 333/1 In scanning, a radioactivity compound is administered to the patient, after which the compound's distribution is mapped out by a scintillation camera that detects gamma rays coming from the child.
1971 Amateur Photographer 13 Jan. 65/2 The system [for reading videotape] was later superseded by transfer scanning, using four magnetic heads on a 2 in diameter drum rotating at 14,400 rpm almost at right angles across 2 in tape, pulled past at 15 ips.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xx. 7 Interlaced scanning is achieved by making the horizontal (line-scanning) rate an odd multiple of one-half the vertical (field-scanning) rate.
1987 D. J. Weatherall et al. Oxf. Textbk. Med. (ed. 2) II. xviii. 138/1 If obstruction is detected pelvic scanning may reveal the cause and drainage can be effected..by..nephrostomies performed under ultrasound control.
c. The rapid or systematic searching of textual material for particular information or features.
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the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > research > [noun]
inquisitionc1384
inquiryc1440
searcha1500
quest1531
research1604
researching1611
digging1827
fact-finding1854
delving1888
scanning1937
oppo1990
society > communication > reading > [noun] > rapidly
scanning1937
speed-reading1965
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > [noun] > scanning of text
scanning1937
1937 Discovery Sept. 256/2 A random scanning of the list reveals many names familiar to the British Association.
1954 Amer. Documentation 5 18/2 Speeds of operation are such as to permit scanning and correlating of generic and specific aspects of indexes in a reasonable time.
1967 Eng. Stud. 48 60 (heading) An archive of older Scottish texts for scanning by computer.
1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xvii. 277 The misplaced record has only been moved one step, and if the computer were to continue the forward scanning, four scans would be needed.
1975 Lang. for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) viii. 115 The intermediate skills, so essential in word attack in the early stages, are at work in skimming, scanning, and the extraction of meaning in the more complex reading tasks of the later stages.
3. auditory scanning: the emission of short pulses of sound and detection of echoes from nearby objects, thought to be used by dolphins for the location and ranging of submerged objects.
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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Delphinidae > delphinus delphis (dolphin) > auditory scanning
auditory scanning1960
1960 W. N. Kellogg in Psychol. Record X. 26 Since the noises which make up the echoes are emitted by the dolphin itself, the activity as a whole amounts to a kind of scanning by sound. We suggest the term auditory scanning, therefore, as a good name for both the acoustic and the general behavior comprising this elaborate pattern of activity.
1963 Language 39 464 The dolphin's auditory scanning is shown to consist of the emission of a continuous series of sound signals for echolocation plus binaural localization.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
scanning device n.
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1931 Daily Tel. 6 Jan. 11/7 Below this speed the pictures flicker, and the intermittences of the scanning device obstruct the view.
scanning frequency n.
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1930 B.B.C. Year-bk. 450/2 Scanning frequency, the rate at which the picture or object is scanned.
scanning movement n.
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1958 Observer 12 Oct. 15/4 Every few minutes, the radio telescope makes small scanning movements, up and down and from side to side. This helps to fix the direction of the radio signals from the rocket to within half a degree.
scanning speed n.
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1929 H. H. Sheldon & E. N. Grisewood Television xii. 126 The scanning speed may be greatly increased by use of a series of oppositely rotating lens~discs.
1934 Sun (Baltimore) 20 Aug. 2/3 A tiny metal mirror, mounted on a slender rod and vibrated at scanning speeds, was presented..as..the solution of one of television's major problems.
C2.
scanning coil n. any of four coils arranged in pairs around the neck of a cathode-ray tube, the magnetic field of which is varied so as to cause the electron beam to trace out a raster pattern on the screen of the tube.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > scanning devices
mirror drum1927
scanning disc1927
scanner1929
Nipkow disc1934
line scan1938
scanning coil1938
1938 J. H. Reyner Testing Television Sets iv. 41 The function of the transformer is to step-down the voltage applied to the scanning coil which operates with a correspondingly larger current.
1978 Broadcast 27 Nov. 15/2 Camera heads are still stuck with bulky camera tubes, scanning coils, splitter blocks and such paraphernalia.
scanning disc n. a rotating disc having a spiral of holes near the edge, used in mechanical systems of television to provide a sequential scan of a scene by optical means for transmission and to permit reconstruction of the scene at the receiver.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > transmitting or receiving apparatus > [noun] > scanning devices
mirror drum1927
scanning disc1927
scanner1929
Nipkow disc1934
line scan1938
scanning coil1938
1927 Wireless World 20 Apr. 685/1 This film was then repeated for an observer by means of a receiving equipment involving the use of a suitable neon tube and a scanning disc.
1928 Sci. & Invention (U.S.) Oct. 489/2 If..the scanning disc has 48 holes and spins at..600 revolutions per minute.
1930 B.B.C. Year-bk. 450/2 Scanning disc, in Television or Picture Transmission, a rotating opaque disc perforated with a series of holes in the form of a spiral. A ray of light passing through the holes is thus caused to move over (scan) a picture or an object placed behind the holes on the farther side from the source of light.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xx. 82 An exciter lamp illuminates the subject copy via a curved mirror, and an objective lens images the reflected light to an aperture plate in front of a scanning disk. The scanning disk is opaque except for a transparent spiral, which curves outward from the center of the disk.
scanning electron microscope n. a form of electron microscope in which an electron beam is scanned in a raster pattern across the specimen; an electrical signal is obtained by collecting and amplifying secondary electrons emitted by the specimen and is applied to a cathode-ray tube scanned in synchronism with the electron beam; hence scanning electron micrograph, scanning electron microscopy.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > magnification or magnifying instruments > [noun] > microscope > electron microscopes
microscope1907
electron microscope1932
field emission microscope1941
field ion microscope1952
scanning electron microscope1953
SEM1968
stereoscan1968
transmission electron microscope1969
STM1982
1953 Proc. Inst. Electr. Engineers 100 ii. 246/2 The main advantage of the scanning electron microscope for transparent specimens is that the resolution is not affected by energy losses of the electrons in the specimen, which in the conventional electron microscope give rise to chromatic aberration.
1962 Nature 6 Oct. 82/1 Figs. 1 and 2 are scanning electron micrographs.
1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 51 Image formation by..scanning electron microscopy.
1972 Sci. Amer. Jan. 55/2 The scanning electron microscope is capable of a range of magnifications that overlaps the range of the light microscope or hand magnifying glass at the low end and the range of the transmission electron microscope at the high end.
1975 J. I. Goldstein et al. in Goldstein & Yakowitz Practical Scanning Electron Microsc. i. 3 The purpose of this brief historical introduction is to point out the pioneers of scanning electron microscopy and in the process trace the evolution of the instrument.
1979 Sci. Amer. Sept. 30/3 Wonderful drawings..complemented by scanning electron micrographs.
scanning field n. = raster n.2 1.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters
picture element1925
line1929
scanning line1929
scanning field1935
scanning raster1935
field1938
line standard1959
pixel1965
1935 Television Today 1 247/1 Such a scanning field is known as a ‘raster’.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xx. 5 The lines of the second scanning field fall between the lines of the first field.
scanning line n. = line n.2 7i.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters
picture element1925
line1929
scanning line1929
scanning field1935
scanning raster1935
field1938
line standard1959
pixel1965
1929 Proc. IRE 17 1586 He first arrived at a correlation between the number of ‘halftone lines per inch’ and the corresponding television ‘scanning lines’.
1933 Discovery Oct. 318/1 The new German standard picture, consisting of 180 scanning lines, is officially considered sufficient for the opening of regular transmissions.
1960 in Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 334 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 There was..a significant difference in the visibility of the scanning lines— the 625-line pictures being..noticeably better than the 405-line pictures.
scanning raster n. = raster n.2 1.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > picture elements, lines, or rasters
picture element1925
line1929
scanning line1929
scanning field1935
scanning raster1935
field1938
line standard1959
pixel1965
1935 Television Today 1 247/2 The production of a scanning raster on the cathode-ray tube of a television receiver by electrical means involves the application of two voltages of saw-tooth wave form to the two pairs of deflecting plates of a cathode-ray tube.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xx. 33 The starting point for generating color pictures is the optical and electronic superposition of the red-, green-, and blue~tube scanning rasters.
scanning spot n. the spot where an incident beam (usually of electrons or light) strikes the surface it is scanning.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > scanning, etc.
scanning1927
scanning spot1929
flying spot1933
interlacing1935
line scanning1935
interlace1936
line scan1938
matrixing1951
line blanking1952
1929 H. H. Sheldon & E. N. Grisewood Television xiii. 139 Since the scanning spot has finite dimensions, its response to an abrupt change in the surface being viewed will be less sharply defined than the original.
1975 D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xx. 5 The electron beams that create the scanning spots are approximately circular, but their intensity is not uniform.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
scanningadj.
/ˈskanɪŋ/ 1. That scans or examines closely; critical, searching.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > a look or glance > [adjective] > piercing
poignant?a1439
sharp1535
narrow1587
searching1597
scanning1863
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. iii. 53 When his eyes fell again they glanced round with a scanning coolness.
1881 E. F. Poynter Among the Hills I. 196 She hated to meet her neighbours and feel their scanning glances.
2. Pathology. Epithet applied to a measured manner of speaking or utterance, with more or less regular pauses, characteristic of certain nervous diseases.
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the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > [adjective] > specific disorders
tongue-tied1530
scanning1881
word-deaf1883
word-blind1888
paragraphic1899
paraphasic1899
adenoidal1908
telegraphic1916
adenoidy1926
paragrammatic1956
logorrhœic1960
paragrammatical1962
logorrhœtic1965
1881 A. Flint Treat. Princ. Med. (ed. 5) 740 The patient speaks in a slow, monotonous manner, with intervals between syllables, as in scanning. The peculiarity is known as the ‘scanning speech’.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 58 A peculiar defect of speech described as a scanning utterance.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 382.
Derivatives
ˈscanningly adv.
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the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > close examination, scrutiny > [adverb]
narrowlyeOE
closely1509
searchingly1574
close1642
pressly1642
scrutinously1650
minutely1690
scrutinizingly1828
probingly1876
scanningly1876
vivisectionally1899
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iv. xxxiv. 354 Jacob looked up into his face scanningly for a moment or two.
1884 E. Fawcett Rutherford ix. 96 He looked down for a moment scanningly at..his delicate filbert-shaped nails.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
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n.c1440adj.1863