|
| scale [ skayl ] |
noun (plural scales) |
|
| Definition: |
| |
1. bony plate on fish: any of the small flat bony or horny overlapping plates that cover the bodies of fish and some reptiles and mammals
|
2. zoology covering of butterfly wing: a small structure that overlaps others to form the covering of the wings of butterflies and moths
|
3. flake: a thin flat piece or flake of something such as dead skin
|
4. metallurgy flaky oxide on heated metal: a flaky oxide that forms on the surface of some metals undergoing heat treatment, especially the black oxide that forms on iron or steel at high temperatures
|
5. deposit inside kettle or boiler: a white deposit sometimes formed on the inside of a kettle or boiler by the action of heat on the water
|
6. dentistry
Same as tartar (sense 1)
|
7. botany
Same as scale leaf
|
8. botany plant disease: the diseased condition of plants caused by scale insects
|
9. insects
Same as scale insect
|
verb (past and past participle scaled, present participle scal·ing, 3rd person present singular scales) |
|
| Definition: |
| |
1. transitive verb clean scales or scale from something: to remove the scales or scale from something
  scaling the fish
|
2. intransitive verb flake off: to come off in scales
|
3. transitive verb throw flat object: to throw a thin flat object through the air, especially a flat stone in order to make it skip across a surface of water
|
4. transitive verb dentistry scrape tooth: to remove the tartar from a tooth by scraping the surface with a sharp instrument
|
5. intransitive verb reptiles shed scales: to shed scales from the body
|
| [13th century. < Old French escale< Germanic, "husk"] |
|
| scale·less adjective |
|
