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Definition of "scan" []

  • To examine closely. (verb-transitive)
  • To look over quickly and systematically: scanning the horizon for signs of land. (verb-transitive)
  • To look over or leaf through hastily: scanned the newspaper while eating breakfast. (verb-transitive)
  • To analyze (verse) into metrical patterns. (verb-transitive)
  • Electronics To move a finely focused beam of light or electrons in a systematic pattern over (a surface) in order to reproduce or sense and subsequently transmit an image. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "scan" in a sentence
  • "Smoking weed during a brain scan is harder than it sounds: Link (Wired Science)."
  • "If you dare, click on the label scan and hear a rough recording straight from the original 45."
  • "A bone scan is a test that evaluates the patient's entire skeleton."