a specialized leaf or bract that protects a bud or catkin
plant noun (plants and fungi)
scale leaves
Middle English from Late Latin scala (in Vulgate, Jacob's ladder) ... | Middle...
(Source: New World Dictionary) [more]
a modified leaf, often small and membranous, protecting buds, etc | any of the leaves of some conifers, such as cypresses, that are small and tightly ... (25 of 195 words, 2 definitions)
www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/scale-leaf
a small modified leaf, especially a colourless membranous one, such as on a rhizome or forming part of a bulb (20 of 22 words)
a scalelike leaf, as a bud scale or certain bracts. (10 of 12 words)
in zoology, small plate or shield forming part of the outer skin layers of certain animals. Scales provide protection from the environment and from ... (24 of 231 words, 3 images)
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/526344/scale
in music, any graduated sequence of notes, tones, or intervals dividing what is called an octave. The specific selection of different tones in any ... (24 of 207 words, 2 images)
An ordered numerical sequence used for measurement. | Size; scope. | The ratio of depicted distance to actual distance. | A line or bar associated with a drawing, used to indicate measurement when the image has been magnified or reduced | A means of ... (40 of 311 words, 21 definitions, 14 usage examples, pronunciation, 1 image)
One of the many small platelike dermal or epidermal structures that ... | A similar part, such as one of the minute structures overlapping to form the ... (26 of 607 words, 40 definitions, 13 usage examples, pronunciation)
in music, any series of tones arranged in a step-by-step rising or falling order of pitch. A scale defines the interval relationship of each tone to ... (26 of 570 words)
www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0843856.html
in zoology, an outgrowth, either bony or horny, of the skin of an animal. The major component of the scales of fishes is bone, and they are formed ... (28 of 267 words)
www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0843858.html
in weights and measures, instruments for determining weight, generally for other than laboratory use. For the principles of operation of all weighing ... (22 of 267 words)
www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0843857.html
in cartography, the ratio of the distance between two points on a map to the real distance between the two corresponding points portrayed. The scale ... (25 of 186 words)
[obsolete] ; a ladder or flight of stairs ; any means of ascent | a series of marks along a line, at regular or graduated intervals, used in measuring ... (28 of 555 words, 31 definitions, 4 usage examples, pronunciation)
may refer to: Architect's scale, a ruler-like device which facilitates the production of technical drawings | Engineer's scale, a ruler-like device similar to the Architect's scale, they are helpful when drawing rooms | Linear scale, a means of showing... (37 of 474 words, 31 definitions)
[singular, uncountable] the size of something, especially when it's big ; the rate at which something is produced, developed etc | [countable, usually ... (22 of 440 words, 10 definitions, 16 usage examples, pronunciation)
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/scale
to climb to or over the top of a high steep object such as a mountain or a wall | to remove scales from fish ; to remove scale from teeth | "scale ... (31 of 97 words, 3 definitions, 3 usage examples, pronunciation)
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/scale 32
either pan or tray of a balance ; "scales": a beam that is supported freely in the center and has two pans of equal weight suspended from its ends | ... (29 of 76 words, 2 definitions, pronunciation)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale
to weigh in scales | to have a specified weight on scales (11 of 26 words, 2 definitions)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=1
a small, flattened, rigid, and definitely circumscribed plate forming part ... | a small thin dry lamina shed (as in many skin diseases) from the skin ... (25 of 221 words, 6 definitions, 2 usage examples, pronunciations)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=2
to remove the scale or scales from (as by scraping) | to take off in thin layers or scales | to throw (as a thin flat stone) so that the edge cuts the ... (31 of 85 words, 5 definitions, 3 usage examples)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=3
to attack with or take by means of scaling ladders ; to climb up or reach by means of a ladder ; to reach the highest point of; "surmount" | to ... (30 of 147 words, 5 definitions, 4 usage examples)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=4
[obsolete] "ladder" ; [archaic] a means of ascent | a graduated series of musical tones ascending or descending in order of pitch according to a ... (24 of 220 words, 7 definitions, 3 usage examples)
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=5
[obsolete] "escalade" | an estimate of the amount of sound lumber in logs or standing timber (15 of 30 words, 2 definitions)
a set of numbers, amounts etc., used to measure or compare the level of something | the relation between the real size of something and its size on a ... (28 of 98 words, 2 definitions, 6 usage examples, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 1
the size or level of something, especially when this is large (11 of 56 words, 3 usage examples, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 2
"scales": [British] ([United States] "scale") a device for weighing things or people | "a pair of scales": [British] a weighing device with two ... (22 of 68 words, 2 definitions, 1 usage example, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 3
a set of notes played or sung in order, going up or down (13 of 31 words, 2 usage examples, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 4
one of the many very small flat pieces which cover the skin of fish, snakes, etc. (16 of 26 words, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 5
([British] "limescale") a hard white or grey layer of material which forms on the inside of pipes or containers that heat water (22 of 31 words, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 6
to climb up a steep surface, such as a wall or the side of a mountain, often using special equipment (20 of 37 words, 1 usage example, pronunciation)
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scale 7
to remove tartar (hard white substance) and plaque (soft substance in which bacteria breed) from teeth (16 of 36 words, 1 usage example, pronunciation)
a leaf that protects a plant bud before the bud expands (11 of 25 words)
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861727069/definition.html [offline]
Origin: Middle English from Late Latin scala (in Vulgate, Jacob's ladder) ... | Middle English, aphetic from Old French escale, husk, shell ( from ... (22 of 85 etymology words)
Origin: Latin scāla, usually in plural scālae ("a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder"), for *scadla, from scandere ("to climb"); see scan, ascend, descend, etc. | Middle English scale, from Old English... (30 of 79 etymology words)
First use: 14th century | 13th century | 15th century
Origin: from Old French escale, of Germanic origin; compare Old English scealushell | from Old Norse skāl bowl, related to Old High ... (26 of 46 etymology words)
Origin: Middle English, from Old French escale, of Germanic origin; see skel- [entry 1] in Indo-European roots. | Middle English, from ... (19 of 42 etymology words)
First use: 14th century
Origin: Middle English scole, scale bowl, scale of a balance, from Old Norse skāl; akin to Old Norse skel shell
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale
First use: 14th century
Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French escale, eschale, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English scealu shell, husk
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=2
First use: 14th century
Origin: Middle English, from scale
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=4
First use: 15th century
Origin: Middle English, from Late Latin scala ladder, staircase, from Latin scalae, plural, stairs, rungs, ladder; akin to Latin scandere to climb
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scale show=5
First use: about 1587
Origin: scale
Origin: Middle English: shortening of Old French escale, from the Germanic base of "scale2" | sense-specific: with biblical reference to Acts 9:18
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/scale
Origin: Middle English (in the sense "drinking cup", surviving in South African English): from Old Norse skál "bowl", of Germanic origin; related to ... (22 of 33 etymology words)
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/scale--2
Origin: late Middle English: from Latin scala "ladder" (the verb via Old French escaler or medieval Latin scalare "climb"), from the base ... (21 of 26 etymology words)
First use: 13th century
Origin: Old French escale from Germanic, "husk"
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861727069/definition.html [offline]
First use: 12th century
Origin: Old Norse skál "bowl, scales" from Germanic, "shell"
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861702090/definition.html [offline]
First use: 14th century
Origin: Latin scala "staircase, ladder"
encarta.msn.com/dictionary 1861702091/definition.html [offline]
Audio: North American pronunciation of "scale"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/scale
Audio: North American pronunciation of "scale"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/scale 35
Audio: British English pronunciation of "scale"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/scale
Audio: British English pronunciation of "scale"
www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/scale 32
Audio: North American pronunciation of "scale"
www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php file=scale001 word=scale
Page last updated: 2013-01-01