Scale | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Scāle, n.

noun

n. [A-S. scālu, scēalu, dish of a balance, balance, Icel. skāl, balance, dish, Dan. skaal, drinking cup, bowl, dish, O. H. Ger. scāla, dish, shell, N. H. Ger. schale, D. schaal, a scale, bowl, shell.] 1. The dish of a balance; hence, the balance itself; an instrument or machine for weighing; as, to turn the scale;—chiefly used in the plural when applied to the whole instrument or apparatus for weighing. Long time in even scale The battle hung. Milton. The scales are turned; her kindness weighs no more Now than my vows. Waller. 2. (pl.) (Astron.) The sign of the Balance, or Libra, in the zodiac.

Scāle, n.

noun

Scāle, n. [A-S. scealu, scalu, a shell, parings, Dan. & Sw. skal, a shell, Dan. skiäl, skäl, a fish-scale; hence, O. Fr. escale, escaille, N. Fr. écaille, scale of a fish, and écaille, shell of beans, peas, eggs, hull of nuts, almonds, It. scaglia.]

Sense 1. One of the small, thin, membranous or bony pieces which form the covering of many fishes and reptiles, belonging to the dermal part of the skeleton, or dermo-skeleton.

Glide under the green wave. Milton.

Sense 2. Hence, any thin layer or leaf of metal or other material, resembling in thinness or size the scale of a fish; as, a scale of iron, of bone, or the like.

Sense 3. (Bot.) A small appendage like a rudimentary leaf, scale-like in form, and often in arrangement; as, the scale of a bud, of a bulb, of a pine-cone, and the like.

Sense 4. The thin metallic lining of a pocket-knife handle. [See Illust. of Pocket-knife.]

Sense 5. An incrustation deposited on the inside of a vessel in which water is heated, as in a steam-boiler, and the like.

Scale armor (Mil.), armor made of small metallic scales overlapping, and fastened upon leather or cloth.

Scale, n.

noun

n. [Lat. scalae, scala, It. scala, Sp. & Pg. escala, Pr. scala, escala, O. Fr. eschele, eschiele, N. Fr. échelle.]

A ladder; series of steps; means of ascending.
Hence, any thing graduated, especially when employed as a measure or rule, or marked by lines or degrees at regular intervals; as, specifically, (a.) A mathematical instrument, consisting of a slip of wood, ivory, or metal, with one or more sets of spaces graduated and numbered on its surface, for measuring or laying off distances, &c., as in drawing, plotting, and the like. (b.) (Mus.) The gamut, or graduated series of all the tones, ascending or descending, from the key-tone to its octave, and which may be repeated through any number of octaves. (c.) A scale of miles, yards, feet, &c., for a map or plan. (d.) A basis for a numeral system; as, the decimal scale; binary scale, &c.

The diatonic scale is graduated by steps and half steps (tones and semitones), and completes itself in seven tones, ascending thus: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, the do which follows being the recommencement of the same scale or series in a higher octave; the chromatic scale is graduated all the way by half steps, and completes itself in twelve tones. The word is sometimes used as synonymous with compass; as, the scale of an instrument. 3. Hence, gradation; succession of ascending and descending steps and degrees; progressive series; scheme of comparative rank or order; as, a scale of being. There is a certain scale of duties . . . which for want of studying in right order, all the world is in confusion. Milton. 4. Relative dimensions, without difference in proportion of parts; size or degree of the parts or components in any complex thing, compared with other like things; as, a map on a scale of an inch to a league.

Scāle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. SCALED; p. pr. & vb. n. SCALING.] [O. Fr. eschelier, eschelier, Pr. escalar, escaliar, Sp. & Pg. escalar, It. scalare, from Lat. scalae, scala (see SCALE, n.), N. Fr. escalader, from escalade. See SCALADE.] To climb by a ladder, or as if by a ladder; to ascend by steps; to clamber up.

Oft have I scaled the craggy oak. Spencer.

Scāle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [From scale, a balance.] To measure; to compare; to weigh. [Rare.] “Scaling his present bearing with his past.” Shak.

Scāle, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [From scale, the covering of a fish.]

To strip or clear of scales; as, to scale a fish.
To take off in thin layers or scales, as tartar from the teeth; to pare off, as a surface. “If all the mountains were scaled, and the earth made even.” Burnet.
To spread, as manure or loose substances; also, to disperse; to waste. [Prov. Eng.]
Hence, to spread abroad. [Obs.]

We'll scale it [news] a little more. Shak. 5. (Gun.) To clean, as the inside of a cannon, by the explosion of a small quantity of powder. Totten.

Scāle, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To lead up by steps; to ascend. [Obs.] “The stair that scaled by steps of God to heaven’s gate.” Milton.

Sense 2. To separate and come off in thin layers or laminæ.

The old shells of the lobster scale off. Bacon.

Sense 3. To dissipate; to depart; to scatter. Jeffrey.